Evening Star Newspaper, September 29, 1929, Page 108

| s e S Sergeant N a bright Spring morning in 1919 a United States Army transport en- tered the harbor of New York—not an unusual event in those days “when the boys came-home.” Thousands of members of the A. E. F. had passed through the city, famous divisions had landed and paraded through the streets of Manhattan's Isle, great heroes had been enter- tained there—French. English and American generals of renown. But on this day the most hard-boiled city in the world was agog. the pent-up passions of blase New York had burst their flood-gates. Crowds everywhere, with banners waving, bands playing, bells ringing, whistles screaming, they were proclaiming the hero of the day—not a celebrated foreign leader, statesman or general; not one of our Army’s fighting generals, but the man who was every- body’s hero. This man represented something dear to the heart of every American, whéther he be a strap- hanging cliff dweller of a crowded city or a homesteader on the Western praivies. Ameri- cans have a positive reverence for those vigor- ous chasacters whose courage won a great empire from a savage foe and with but little else than muzzle-loading rifle, a spade, an ax and a bit of sced, cleared the forest, won from She soil a living for themselves, p:opled a wil- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 29, 1929, York to Be Guest at Army Show Here War Hero Will Witness Reproduction of His Exploit of IWhipping Single-Handed a Whole Battalion of Enemy Machine Gunners at Annual Milita ry Exposition and Carnival to Be Held at Washington Barracks. sarily include the York episode, Sergt. York's presence would insure a large attendance. The cause, the Army Relief, was a most worthy one. To think with the colonel is to act, and soon the executive committee o. k.'d the proposition, and Gen. Summerall penned a letter of invita- tion to Se-gt. York. As a messenger to carry they were directed to go on 10 miles farther to Sergt. York's home, near the Wolf River. The sergeant lives on a 300-acre farm which the Rotary Club of Tennessee gave him. The heuse is a square, two-story, frame building which the sergeant himself built. It has a spacicus porch bordering a living room, with Sergt. Early of York's section being unloaded from an ambulance. , ‘derness and founded the greatest Nation on this terrestrial globe. Virile, self-effacing men, ~ ploneers, pathfinders. * MING from the mountains of Tennessee, from a hamlet tucked away in the Valley of the Three Wolves, Sergt. Alvin C. York rep- ‘resented this old American type, and it was he who rose to the occasion and performed an un- paralleled feat in modern warfare that made every American glow with pride. A humble, ‘“modest, God-fearing man from old American stock had, in the words of Marshal Foch, ‘done . “the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe.” ‘The people of Washington will have an - op- pportunity to see Sergt. York next Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the annual military exposition and carnival conducted by the Army at Washington Barracks. And they will see how he accomplished, practically single-handed, the remarkable exploit of whipping a whole bat- talion of enemy machine gunners, killing 29 of them, capturing 36 of their guns and bringing into the Américan lines 132 prisoners, for the Army will re-enact this stirring episode in its great sham battle, “Smashing Through the Ar- gonne with Sergt. York,” every afternoon and evening of the three days of the show. How Sergt. York came to be the guest of honor of the Army is an interesting story in itself and the character of the man is brought ‘out in the telling of it. AST Spring a group of officers were gathered at the Officers* Club of the Army War Col- lege talking about the merits of the different divisions of the A. E. F. and their accomplish- ments. Among the party were Col. Leon B. Kromer and Lieut. Col. Troup Miller, former members of the 82nd Division, who were not too modest in their claims regarding the fight- ing ability of the 82nd. Then Sergt. York's name came up and his performance became the subject of an interesting discussion. : Col. Kromer had been appointed chairman ‘of the publicity committee for the military ‘exposition and carnival some time before, and he left the club that night with the idea that the action of the 82nd Division in the Argonne Forest. around the 8th and 9th of October, 1918, offered the theme for a splendid scenario for the sham battie staged each year at the igreat Army show, and that as it would neces- the general's letter, Maj. R. B. Lawrence, who for the past two years has been executive officer of the publicity committee, was selected. Maj. Lawrence decided to go by plane, and he was piloted by First Lieut. Louis M. Mer- rick of the Air Corps, operations officer at Bolling Pield. They landed at the Knoxville (Tenn.) Airport, and then drove over the York Highway up into the mountains to Jamestown, Tenn., & distance of 130 miles. At Jamestown two fireplaces giving a hint of Winter cheer. It is a comfortable, well kept little home. The two officers drove into the yard, parked their car, straightened their uniforms and Sam Brown belts and walked toward a group of three ladies and four children gathered on the veranda. Mrs. Alvin C. York rose—she is a tall, blue-eyed woman with a native dignity, of bearing. .The officers made their best bow and asked for the sergeant. They were directed to oo g — Alvire York today. - a small building a short distance from the house, evidently a workshop. . As they turned toward the outbuilding two old hound dogs followed them sedately. Maj. Lawrence approached the door and looked into the dim interior. Busy repairing a dismantled gas engine sat a man whom the major recog- nized because of his great size as Sergt. York. Near the big man were two others, rangier and not so large. ERGT. YORK glanced up as the major’s form darkened the doorway, and without stopping the slow, methodical manipulation of ® wrench he simply said: “Howdy! Want to see me?” One would have thought that it was the usual thing for Army officers in their best uni= forms to casually drop in at all times. “How do you do,” replied the major. “I want to see you, but I am in no hurry.” Leisurely the sergeant screwed on the nut, then arose and came forward; his bulk filled the doorway. He was clean shaven and his neatly trimmed mustache is as red as his hair. His cheeks are ruddy with health. Slowly his gray eyes traveled irom one officer to the other. “I can't shake,” he said and held out two great hands, covered with grease from the engine. : The major introduced Lieut. Merrick and himself, told the object of bhis mission and produced the letter of invitation from Gen. Summerall, which' he held for the sergeant to read. s “Don't believe I can go,” said York, and there was a ring of finality to his voice that sent the major's hopes to about 10 below zero. “But come into the house,” said the sergeant, his mountain hospitality coming to the surface. “Come in, while I wash my hands.” He led the way with the long, measured strides of the wocdsman. So individual is his gait that one could recognize him from a distance by seeing him walk. When they reached the veranda the sergeant introduced his visitors to his mother, then to his wife and to a neighbor. Both officers gazed with deep interest at these two women of the house of York. The mother nodded her head but said not a word. She is a woman of advanced years, her thin face is deeply lined, but her eyes are bright and look upon one from beneath the old- fashioned split-bonnet with a direet calmness [ Continued on Eleventh Page Only a few of York's prisoners.