On Oct. 8, 1918, outside the French village of Chatel-Chenery during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Alvin C. York of Company G, 328th Infantry, U.S. Army, joined 16 other soldiers in an attempt to silence German machine guns that had halted the advance the day before. In cold, wet, foggy conditions, German fire struck the exposed left flank, wounding or killing nine Americans, including York’s friend Murray Savage. Positioned on the right flank beneath the crest of the hill in a natural depression, York killed nine machine-gun operators while his comrades fired on the Germans, and within minutes 25 Germans were dead. The Germans then surrendered, believing they faced a superior force, and York and the surviving Americans escorted 132 prisoners about 10 miles to American forces at Varennes. For this action he received the Congressional Medal of Honor and many other medals. After returning from France, he remained an influential figure in Tennessee and the nation. General John J. Pershing called him “the greatest civilian soldier” of World War I, and after York’s death in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson called him “a symbol of American courage and sacrifice” who epitomized “the gallantry of American fighting men and their sacrifices on behalf of freedom.” During World War II, Gov. Prentice Cooper appointed York to the Tennessee Preparedness Committee in 1940-1941 to help plan the transition from peace to wartime. Although he tried to re-enlist, poor health led to his service on the home front, where he and Arthur Bushing led the local draft board. He spent fewer than eight weeks at home during the war, traveling across the U.S. for the Signal Corps, rallying troops, encouraging enlistment, opposing the America First Committee and Charles Lindbergh’s call for non-involvement, hosting the weekly radio program “Tennessee Americans,” writing the syndicated column “Sergeant York Says,” touring with the Camel Caravan variety show, selling War Bonds, giving blood to the Red Cross, and assisting the Roosevelt administration as requested. The 1941 film Sergeant York also played a significant role in persuading Americans to enlist in World War II. A later weapon named for him, the M247 “Sgt. York” Division Air Defense Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, was introduced in 1983, failed, and contributed to the dismissal of U.S. Secretary Caspar Weinberger; one of the few remaining examples never saw action.