The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Sgt. Alvin C. York - Mar 1st, 2004

www.alvincyork.org ^ | Dr. Michael Birdwell

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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Sgt. Alvin Cullum York
(1887 - 1964)

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Known as the greatest hero of World War I, York avoided profiting from his war record before 1939. Born December 13, 1887 in a two-room dogtrot log cabin in Pall Mall, Tennessee, and raised in a rural backwater in the northern section of Fentress County, York was a semi-skilled laborer when drafted in 1917. Quite literally having never traveled more than fifty miles from his home, York's war experience served as an epiphany awakening him to a more complex world.

Sgt. York Wearing Medal of Honor

The third oldest of a family of eleven children, the York family eked out a hardscrabble existence of subsistence farming supplemented by hunting, and York became a competent marksman at an early age. Living in a region that saw little need for education, York had a grand total of nine-months schooling at a subscription school he attended in his youth. York's father, William York (who died in 1911), also acted as a part time blacksmith to provide some extra income for the family. Prior to the advent of the World War, York was employed as a day laborer on the railroad near Harriman. As a result, York had little experience with managing money and later suffered from chronic fiscal problems. (York spent money when he had it, gave it away to other people who he believed needed it, and invested poorly).

As York came of age he earned a reputation as a deadly accurate shot and a hell raiser. Drinking and gambling in borderline bars known as "Blind Tigers," York was generally considered a nuisance and someone who "would never amount to anything." That reputation underwent a serious overhaul when York experienced a religious conversion in 1914. In that year two significant events occurred: his best friend, Everett Delk, was killed in a bar fight in Static, Kentucky; and he attended a revival conducted by H.H. Russell of the Church of Christ in Christian Union. Delk's senseless death convinced York that he needed to change his ways or suffer a fate similar to his fallen comrade, which prompted him to attend the prayer meeting.


The York family, 1900

A strict fundamentalist sect with a following limited to three states--Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee--the Church of Christ in Christian Union espoused a strict moral code which forbade drinking, dancing, movies, swimming, swearing, popular literature, and moral injunctions against violence and war. Though raised Methodist, York joined the Church of Christ in Christian Union and in the process convinced one of his best friends, Rosier Pile, to join as well. Blessed with a melodious singing voice, York became the song leader and a Sunday School teacher at the local church. Rosier Pile went on to become the church's pastor. The church also brought York in contact with the girl who would become his wife, Gracie Williams.

By most accounts, York's conversion was sincere and complete. He quit drinking, gambling, and fighting. When the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, York's new found faith would be tested. York received his draft notice from his friend, the postmaster and pastor, Rosier Pile, on June 5, 1917, just six months prior to his thirtieth birthday. Because of the Church of Christ in Christian Union's proscriptions against war, Pile encouraged York to seek conscientious objector status. York wrote on his draft card: "Dont [sic] want to fight." When his case came up for review it was denied at both the local and the state level because the Church of Christ in Christian Union was not recognized as a legitimate Christian sect.



Though a would-be conscientious objector, drafted at age thirty, York in many ways typified the underprivileged, undereducated conscript who traveled to France to "keep the world safe for democracy." With great reservations, York embarked for Camp Gordon, Georgia to receive his basic training. A member of Company G in the 328th Infantry attached to the 82nd Division (also known as the "All American Division) York established himself as a curiosity--an excellent marksman who had no stomach for war. After weeks of debate and counseling, York relented to his company commander, George Edward Buxton, that there are times when war is moral and ordained by God, and he agreed to fight.

York's role as hero went beyond his exploit in the Argonne and continues to both inspire and confound. On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York and sixteen other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched before sunrise to take command of the Decauville railroad behind Hill 223 in the Chatel-Chehery sector of the Meuse-Argonne sector. The seventeen men, due to a misreading of their map (which was in French not English) mistakenly wound up behind enemy lines. A brief fire fight ensued which resulted in the confusion and the unexpected surrender of a superior German force to the seventeen soldiers. Once the Germans realized that the American contingent was limited, machine gunners on the hill overlooking the scene turned the gun away from the front and toward their own troops. After ordering the German soldiers to lie down, the machine gun opened fire resulting in the deaths of nine Americans, including York's best friend in the outfit, Murray Savage. Sergeant Early received seventeen bullet wounds and turned the command over to corporals Harry Parsons and William Cutting, who ordered York to silence the machine gun. York was successful and when all was said and done, nine men had captured 132 prisoners.



That York deserves credit for his heroism is without question. Unfortunately, however, his exploit has been blown out of proportion with some accounts claiming that he silenced thirty-five machine guns and captured 132 prisoners single-handedly. York never claimed that he acted alone, nor was he proud of what he did. Twenty-five Germans lay dead, and by his accounting, York was responsible for at least nine of the deaths. Only two of the seven survivors were acknowledged for their participation in the event; Sergeant Early and Corporal Cutting were finally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1927.

York's war exploit typified that of the nineteenth century American hero. He appeared larger than life and was most often compared to three peculiarly American icons: Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Abraham Lincoln. Literally growing up in a quasi-frontier existence tucked away in a remote Tennessee backwater unscathed by industrialized America, York was born and raised in a log cabin near the Tennessee-Kentucky border--a region which bore no resemblance to the break-neck bustle of New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles--so York seemed to belong to another more idyllic time. As late as 1917, he hunted squirrel, raccoon, quail, wild boar and deer with a muzzle-loader. York's life caught fire in the American imagination not because of who he was, but what he symbolized: a humble, self-reliant, God-fearing, taciturn patriot who slowly moved to action only when sufficiently provoked and then adamantly refused to capitalize on his fame. Ironically, York also represented a rejection of mechanization and modernization through his dependence upon personal skill. George Patullo, the Saturday Evening Post reporter who broke the story, focused on the religio-patriotic nature of York's feat. He titled his piece The Second Elder Gives Battle, referring to York's status in his home congregation in Pall Mall, Tennessee.


Alvin York's "old gun" was a U.S. Model 1917 Enfield Rifle.
Mechanism Type: Turnbolt, fixed box-magazine
Caliber: .30-'06
Weight: 9.5 lbs.
Over-All Length: 46.3"
Magazine Capacity: 6 rounds

For his actions, York was singled out as the greatest individual soldier of the war and when he returned home in 1919 he was wooed by Hollywood, Broadway, and various advertisers who wanted his endorsement of their products. York turned his back on quick and certain fortune in 1919, and went home to Tennessee to resume peacetime life. Largely unknown to most Americans was the fact that Alvin York returned to America with a single vision. He wanted to provide a practical educational opportunity for the mountain boys and girls of Tennessee. Understanding that to prosper in the modern world an education was necessary, York sought to bring Fentress County into the twentieth century. Thousands of like-minded veterans returned from France with similar sentiments and as a result college enrollments shot up immediately after the war.

The war had introduced York to a mechanized industrial world and his prolonged exposure to it made him realize the important contributions industrialization could make for his friends and relatives at home. Literally a stranger in a strange land, York recognized that he was ill-equipped to fully understand or appreciate his foreign surroundings. Initially he immersed himself in the Bible, hoping that his simplistic religious faith would see him through, but by the war's end he longed for something more than just his faith.


With the Tennessee Society of New York in 1919 at the welcoming home ceremonies.

Yearning to return home and wed his sweetheart, York was taken aback by his New York City hero's welcome. He prevailed upon Tennessee Congressman and future Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, to facilitate a hasty return to his home. Once back in Tennessee further surprises awaited him. The Rotary Club of Nashville in conjunction with other Tennessee clubs wanted to present York with a home and a farm.

Unfortunately not enough money was raised and they gave him an unfinished home and saddled him with a healthy mortgage to boot. As late as 1922, the deed remained in the hands of the Nashville Rotary Club.

[SAMWolf]

Throughout the 1920s York went on speaking tours to endorse his hopes for education and raise money for York Institute. He also became interested in state and national politics. A Democrat in a staunchly Republican county, York's endorsement carried a degree of clout for pols. York used his celebrity to improve roads, employment, and education in his home county.


Alvin York with a picture of Mrs. Mary York, his "little old mother."

York receded from the national spotlight during the 1930s, and focused his waning political aspirations on the state rather than the local level. He considered running for the U.S. Senate against the freshman senator, Albert Gore. In the 1932 election, he changed his party affiliation and supported Herbert Hoover over Franklin D. Roosevelt because FDR promised to repeal Prohibition. Once the New Deal got underway, however, York returned to the Democratic party and endorsed the president's relief efforts, especially the C.C.C. and the W.P.A. In 1939, York was appointed superintendent of the Cumberland Homesteads near Crossville.


Wedding of Alvin York and Gracie Williams, June 7, 1919.

In 1935 York delivered a sermon entitled, Christian Cure for Strife, which argued that the vigilant Christian should ignore current world events, because Europe stood poised on the brink of another war and Americans should avoid it at all costs. Recalling his career as a soldier, York renounced America's involvement in World War I. In order to achieve world peace, Americans must first secure it at home beginning with their own families. The church and the home, therefore, represented the cornerstones of world peace.


A Mature Alvin York with the Governor of Tennessee

At the same time, the threat of war had rekindled the interest of some filmmakers, most notably Jesse L. Lasky, into reviving the story of York's exploits during World War I. Lasky, having witnessed the famous New York reception of the hero from his eighth floor office window in May of 1919 had wanted then to tell York's story. While several other studios found interest in York's saga in 1919, only Jesse Lasky of Famous Players Paramount (later associated with Twentieth Century-Fox, and finally Warner Brothers) had persistently pursued him. In the late 1930s the world once again appeared on the verge of war and the official stance of the United States government was reminiscent of York's initial attitude toward the first World War. America (in 1939) and York (in 1917) both had to be convinced that war was not only justifiable, but sometimes necessary.

When York at last relented, he announced that the film would "be a true picture of my life...my contributions since the war. It won't be a war picture. I don't like war pictures." Yet the film that bears his name definitely was a war picture. The original screenplay presented the war as an epiphany for York which forced him to recognize his own inadequacies but fulfilled his wish to improve himself and his homeland. The motion picture that arrived in movie theatres in July of 1941 not only signaled a profound change in York's pacifism but sounded the clarion for American involvement in World War II.

Alvin York at the premiere of "Sergeant York", in 1941

York's heartfelt belief that war represented moral evil never wavered before his association with Lasky and the Warner Brothers. In 1937, York not only condemned war but also questioned America's involvement in the First World War. In that same year, York joined the Emergency Peace Campaign which lobbied against any U.S. involvement in the growing tensions in Europe. A pious peaceful man, York had fought his country's enemy only after great deliberation and had to be convinced that war was sometimes necessary. His personal struggle in World War I found new resonance in an America at odds over the recent European war, for York personified isolationist Christian America wrestling with its conscience over whether or not to engage in the current war abroad.


A formal portrait after the war.

Because the Church of Christ in Christian Union condemned movies as sinful, Lasky had a tough time convincing York that a film based on his life was justified. York finally agreed when he decided that the money made from the film could be used to create an interdenominational Bible school. As the film progressed the focus of the project changed and York's war exploit gained prominence. Through York's association with Lasky and Warner Brothers, he became convinced that Hitler represented the personification of evil in the world and turned belligerent. York's conversion to interventionism was so complete that he wholeheartedly agreed with General George C. Marshall that the U.S. should institute its first peacetime draft. Governor Prentice Cooper approved York's endorsement by naming him chief executive of the Fentress County Draft Board, and appointed him to the Tennessee Preparedness Committee to help prepare for wartime.



In 1940-41, York joined the Fight for Freedom Committee which combated the isolationist stance of America First, and York became one of its most vocal members. Up until Pearl Harbor, York battled another legendary American hero, the man who symbolized America First to the general public, Charles Lindbergh. Meantime, the film Sergeant York starring Gary Cooper, became one of the top grossing Warner Brothers films of the entire war era and earned Cooper the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1942.

During the war, York attempted to reenlist in the infantry but could not do so due to age and obesity. Instead, through an affiliation with the Signal Corps, York traveled the country on bond tours, recruitment drives, and camp inspections. Ironically, the Bible school that was built with the proceeds from the movie opened in 1942, but the very people the school was intended for had either enlisted in the armed services or moved north to work in defense related industries. The school closed in 1943 never to reopen.

Gary Cooper as Alvin York

York's health began to deteriorate after the war and in 1954 he suffered from a stroke that would leave him bedridden for the remainder of his life. In 1951, the Internal Revenue Service accused York of tax evasion regarding profits earned from the movie. Unfortunately, York was practically destitute in 1951. He spent the next ten years wrangling with the IRS, which led Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and Congressman Joe L. Evins to establish the York Relief Fund to help cancel the debt. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ordered that the matter be resolved and considered the IRS's actions in the case to be a national disgrace. The relief fund paid the IRS $100,000 and placed $30,000 in trust to be used in the family's best interest.

York died on September 2, 1964 and was buried with full military honors in the Pall Mall cemetery. His funeral was attended by Governor Frank G. Clement and General Matthew Ridgway as President Lyndon B. Johnson's official representative. He was survived by seven children and his widow.

Alvin and Gracie York's Grave in a quiet cemetary in the town of Pall Mall.

When asked how he wanted to be remembered, the old sergeant said he wanted people to remember how he tried to improve basic education in Tennessee because he considered a solid education the true key to success. It saddened him somewhat that only one of his children went on to college, but he was proud of the fact that they all had received high school diplomas from York Institute. Most people, of course, do not remember him as a proponent for public education. York's memory is forever tied to Gary Cooper's laconic screen portrayal of the mountain hero and the myth surrounding his military exploits in the Argonne in 1918.

[SAMWolf]

"On the morning of October 8, [1918] Corporal York was one of a body of sixteen men in the battle of the Argonne who were ordered to put certain enemy machine guns out of action. The guns they were after were on the other side of a slope. To gain their objective, the Americans were forced to climb a hill, exposed a part of the time to enemy fire from other positions. They accomplished this without loss and began to descend on the other side, their object being to advance upon the enemy from the rear. Presently they found themselves in a cuplike valley among the hills where they spied two Germans ahead of them. One of these surrendered and the other disappeared. Anticipating battle, the detachment went into skirmish order and continued to push forward. Arriving at a small stream, the Americans discovered on the other side some twenty or thirty Germans, among them several officers who were apparently holding a conference. The Americans fired, with the result that the entire body of Germans surrendered. Just as they were on the point of departure with their prisoners, dozens of enemy machine guns, hidden on the steep slope of the hill facing them not over thirty yards away, [Hill 223] opened up on the American detachment. Captors and captured immediately dropt flat on their stomachs, but not before six Americans had been killed. Three men were wounded, among them the sergeant in command. York and seven privates remained. Of these one had taken refuge behind a tree raked on both sides by enemy fire so he could not get away, and the others were guarding the German prisoners. Hence York was left to fight an entire machine-gun battalion alone." (excerpt from 'The Literary Digest', June 14, 1919)


Advancing in the Argonne Forest

"You never heard such a clatter and racket in all your life." "I couldn't see any of our boys. Early and Cutting had run along toward the left in front of me just before the battle started, but I didn't know where they were." "If I'd moved I'd have been killed in a second. The Germans were what saved me. [The prisoners they had captured earlier were laying on the grond in front of Alvin.] I kept up close to them, and so the fellers on the hill had to fire a little high for fear of hitting their own men. The bullets were cracking just over my head and a lot of twigs fell down." "Well, I fired a couple of clips or so — things were moving pretty lively, so I don't know how many I did shoot — and first thing I knew a Boche got up and flung a little bomb at me about the size of a silver dollar. It missed and wounded one of the prisoners on the ground, and I got the Boche—got him square."



"Next thing that happened, a lieutenant rose up from near one of them machine guns and he had seven men with him. The whole bunch came charging down the hill at me." "I had my automatic out by then, and let them have it. Got the lieutenant right through the stomach and he drops and screamed a lot... Then I shot the others.... At that distance I couldn't miss." "As soon as the Germans saw the lieutenant drop, most of them quit firing their machine guns and the battle quieted down. I kept on shooting, but in a minute here come the major who had surrendered with the first bunch. I reckon he had done some shooting at us himself, because I heard firing from the prisoners and afterward I found out that his pistol was empty." "He put his hand on my shoulder like this and said to me in English. 'Don't shoot any more, and I'll make them surrender.' So I said. 'All right'; and he did so, and they did so."



The German Major of the prisoners had providentially lived in Chicago for a time, and spoke English well. Thus, Alvin was able to give demands that normally would have required a translator. "I called for my men, and one of them answered from behind a big oak tree, and the others were on my right in the brush. So I said, 'Let's get these Germans out of here.' One of my men said, 'it is impossible.' So I said, 'No; let's get them out.' So when my man said that, this German major said, 'How many have you got?' and I said, 'I have got a-plenty,' and pointed my pistol at him all the time."


York, a noncommissioned officer, is correctly depicted in the movie as carrying and firing a sidearm. In the movie, it's a P-08 Luger 9mm German semiautomatic pistol. In the Argonne Campaign, York actually carried a Model 1911 .45 caliber APC semi-automatic pistol, the same one those who served in the U.S. Army, or Marines remember firing in training. The problem was that Hawks could not find any .45 caliber APC blank ammunition when it came time to film the battle scenes for "Sergeant York". So Gary Cooper used the 9mm Luger instead.

Over thirty machine guns had been aimed down Hill 223, less than thirty yards away from Corporal Alvin York. Alvin later remarked upon revisitng the site later that day, "I noticed the bushes all around where I stood in my fight with the machine guns were all cut down. The bullets went over my head and on either side. But they never touched me." "So you can see here in this case of mine where God helped me out. I had been living for God and working in the church some time before I come to the army. So I am a witness to the fact that God did help me out of that hard battle; for the bushes were shot up all around me and I never got a scratch. So you can see that God will be with you if you will only trust Him; and I say that He did save me. Now, He will save you if you will only trust Him."


Casualties Being Carried Out of the Argonne Forest

"After the Armistice was signed, I was ordered to go back to the scene of my fight with the machine guns. General Lindsey and some other generals went with me. We went over the ground carefully. The officers spent a right smart amount of time examining the hill and the trenches where the machine guns were, and measuring and discussing everything. And then General Lindsey asked me to describe the fight to him. And I did. And then he asked me to march him out just like I marched the German major out, over the same ground and back to the American lines. Our general was very popular. He was a natural born fighter and he could swear just as awful as he could fight. He could swear most awful bad.


York on the Argonne Forest hill where, with the aid of 17 men, he captured 132 German prisoners on Oct. 8, 1918.

And when I marched him back to our old lines he said to me, 'York, how did you do it?' And I answered him, 'Sir, it is not man power. A higher power than man power guided and watched over me and told me what to do.' And the general bowed his head and put his hand on my shoulder and solemnly said, 'York, you are right.'

There can be no doubt in the world of the fact of the divine power being in that. No other power under heaven could bring a man out of a place like that. Men were killed on both sides of me; and I was the biggest and the most exposed of all [Alvin was six foot tall]. Over thirty machine guns were maintaining rapid fire at me, point-blank from a range of about twenty-five yards."



The next day found twenty-eight Germans dead; just as many shots Alvin said he had fired. Every bullet he fired had found it's target. "Practically unassisted, he [Alvin] captured 132 Germans (three of whom were officers), took about thirty-five machine guns, and killed no less than twenty-five of the enemy, later found by others on the scene of York's extraordinary exploit." (excerpt from 'the official report made by officers of the Eighty-Second Division to General Headquarters')


82nd - All American Division Patch - WWI

On November 1, "I was made a sergeant just as quick as I got back out of the lines."



On April 24, at St. Silva, Marshal Foch pinned the French Croix de Guerre on him, and called his exploit "the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe." Upon talking with Alvin, Brigadier General Lindsey said, "Well, York, I hear you have captured the whole German army." Alvin replied modestly, "No, I only have 132."

Additional Sources:

www.whatsaiththescripture.com
www.worldwar1.com
Alvin C. York Institute
mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk
www.tennesseehistory.com
www.homeofheroes.com
www.whitehousecyberlib.org
freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~worldwarone
history.amedd.army.mi
www.movieactors.com

[SAMWolf]

Commemorative Stamp Issued in 2000

'Sir, I am doing wrong. Practicing to kill people is against my religion.'

-- York, speaking of target practice at human silhouettes.

'What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe.'

-- Marshall Ferdinand Foch, on York's feat in the Argonne.

Statue of SGT York - TN State Capitol

'This uniform ain't for sale. '

-- York, on demands for his endorsement.

'It's over; let's just forget about it.'

-- York's modesty about the the event that brought him the Medal of Honor.

'The fear of God makes a hero; the fear of man makes a coward.'

-- Alvin York

'I didn't want to go to war. My own experience told me it wasn't right, and the Bible was against it too ... but Uncle Sam said he wanted me, and I had been brought up to believe in my country.'

-- Alvin York

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

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[snippy_about_it]

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Good Monday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

The weather's nice this morning storms no in the forecast until tommorow night.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

Rutan "Grizzly"

[snippy_about_it]

So when my man said that, this German major said, 'How many have you got?' and I said, 'I have got a-plenty,' and pointed my pistol at him all the time."

He weren't stupid! LOL. Good story Sam, thanks.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. Warmer here today, should be 59 degrees with a chance of thunderstorms.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Aeronaut. "Grizzly", ha! Too skinny to be a grizzly.

[The Mayor]

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. —Philippians 4:13

God always gives enough strength for the next step.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Snippy.

I think my daughter's machine picked up a virus(ARRRRGH) I haven't been able to run any kind of virus scan becasue Norton has been corrupted so I don't know yet which virus it is. I may be scarce this morning trying to track it down and repair the machine. :-(

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 01:
0772 Po Tjiu-i Chinese poet/Governor of Hang-tsjow
1456 Wladyslaw Jagiello king of Bohemia/Hungary (1471/90-1516)
1630 Ferdinand van Apshoven de Jongere Flemish painter, baptized
1810 Frédéric Chopin Poland, composer/pianist (Concerto in F Minor)
1811 Robert Christie Buchanan Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1878
1820 George Davis Attorney General (Confederacy), died in 1896
1822 Albin Francisco Schoepf Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1822 Charles Champion Gilbert Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1828 James Fleming Fagan Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1893
1831 Hiram Bronson Granbury Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1837 William Dean Howells US, novelist/critic/editor (Atlantic)
1860 Suzanna Salter 1st US female mayor/temperance leader
1864 Rebecca Lee 1st black woman to get a medical degree
1882 Ida Moore Altoona KS, actress (Mr Music, Ma & Pa Kettle at Waikiki)
1903 Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke Iowa, jazz cornetist (In a Mist)
1904 Glenn Miller bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood)
1909 David Niven Kirriemuir Angus Scotland, actor (Casino Royale, Eye of the Devil)
1914 Ralph Waldo Ellison US writer (Invisible Man, Shadow & Cast)
1917 Dinah Shore Winchester TN, singer (See the USA in a Chevrolet)
1919 Lawrence Ferlinghetti US, beat poet (Coney Island of the Mind)
1920 Harry Caray baseball announcer (Chicago Cubs)
1921 Terrence "Cardinal" Cooke New York NY
1922 William M Gaines publisher (MAD Magazine)
1922 Yitzak Rabin premier (Israel, 1992-95, Nobel 1994)
1924 Donald "Deke" Kent Slayton Sparta WI, Major USAF/astronaut (Apollo 18)
1926 Pete Rozelle NFL commissioner (1960-89)
1926 Robert Clary Paris France, actor (LeBeau-Hogan's Heroes)
1927 Harry Belafonte Harlem New York NY, calypso singer (Buck & the Preacher)
1927 Robert Heron Bork judge, nominated for supreme court
1929 Sonny James singer (Young Love, Running Bear)
1935 Robert Conrad [Conrad R Falk] Chicago IL, actor (Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep)
1940 Ralph Towner Chehalis WA, Guitar (Oregon, Weather Report)
1941 Michael L Lampton Williamsport PA, astronaut (STS-45)
1944 Dirk Benedict Helena MT, actor (A-Team, Battlestar Galactica)
1944 Roger Daltrey Hammersmith London England, rocker/actor/producer (The Who-Tommy)
1953 Ron Howard Duncan OK, actor/director (American Graffiti, Happy Days/Willow, Backdraft)
1954 Catherine Bach Warren OH, actress (Daisy Duke-Dukes of Hazzard)

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Deaths which occurred on March 01:
0965 Leo VIII Italian (anti-)Pope (963-65), dies
1131 Stephen II King of Hungary (1116-31), dies
1619 Thomas Campion English physician/composer/poet (Poemata), dies at 53
1633 George Herbert English poet, dies at 39
1870 Francisco S López President of Paraguay (1862-70), dies at 43
1920 Joseph Trumpeldor killed defending Tel-Mai against arab attack
1947 J Boogaard Nazi collaborator, executed
1979 Molla Mustafa Barzani Iranian Kurd leader (KDP), dies at 75
1984 Jackie Coogan actor (Uncle Fester-Addams Family), dies at 69
1991 Edwin H Land inventor (Polaroid Camera), dies at 81
1993 Luis Kutner US co-founder (Amnesty International), dies at 84
1994 Walter Kent US composer (I'll Be Home for Christmas), dies at 82

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 CHRISTENSEN WILLIAM M.---GREAT FALLS MT.
1966 FRAWLEY WILLIAM D.---BROCKTON MA.
1966 WOLOSZYK DONALD J.---ALPENA MI.
1968 LANNOM RICHARD C.---UNION CITY TN.
1968 SCHEURICH THOMAS E.---NORFOLK NE.
1969 CAMPBELL CLYDE W.---LONGVIEW TX.
1969 KELLER WENDELL R.---FARGO ND.
1969 LOVEGREN DAVID E.---PORTLAND OR.
1969 MERONEY VIRGIL K.---FAYETTEVILLE AR.
1971 BLACK PAUL V.---CENTRAL VALLEY CA.
1971 ZUBKE DELAND D.---GRASSY BUTTE ND.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0001 -BC- Start of revised Julian calendar in Rome
0293 Roman emperor Maximianus introduces tetrarchy
0492 St Felix III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0492 St Gelasius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0705 John VII begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0743 Slave export by Christians to heathen areas prohibited
1260 Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus
1382 French Maillotin uprises against taxes
1562 Blood bath at Vassy; General de Guise allows 1200 huguenots murder
1591 Pope Gregory XIV threatens to excommunicate French king Henri IV
1634 Battle at Smolensk; Polish King Wladyslaw IV beats Russians
1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrest for witchcraft (Salem MA)
1711 "The Spectator" begins publishing (London)
1780 Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only)
1781 Continental Congress adopts Articles of Confederation
1790 1st US census authorized
1792 US Presidential Succession Act passed
1803 Ohio becomes 17th state
1809 Embargo Act of 1807 repealed & Non-Intercourse Act signed
1811 Egyptian king Muhammad Ali Pasha oversees ceremonial murder of 500
1811 French Civil Code of Criminal law accepted by Netherlands Mamelukes in Cairo's Citadel
1845 President Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas
1847 Michigan becomes 1st English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state)
1866 Paraguayan canoes sink 2 Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana
1867 Howard University, Washington DC, chartered
1867 Most of Nebraska becomes 37th US state (expanded later)
1869 Postage stamps showing scenes are issued for 1st time
1872 Yellowstone becomes world's 1st national park
1875 Congress passes Civil Rights Act; invalidated by Supreme Court, 1883
1890 1st US edition of Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet) published
1893 Diplomatic Appropriation Act, authorizes the US rank of ambassador
1896 Battle of Adua: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians
1909 1st US university school of nursing established, University of Minnesota
1910 3 passenger trains buried at Steven's Pass in Cascade Range: 118 die; Worst snowslide in US history
1912 Albert Berry makes 1st parachute jump from an airplane
1912 Isabella Goodwin, 1st US woman detective, appointed, New York NY
1913 1st state law requiring bonding of officers & state employees, North Dakota
1913 Federal income tax takes effect (16th amendment)
1917 1st federal land bank chartered
1919 Demonstrations for Korean independence from Japan begin
1924 Germany's prohibition of Communist Party KPD lifted
1928 Paul Whiteman & his orchestraestra record "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records
1932 Charles Lindbergh Jr (20 months), kidnapped in New Jersey; found dead May 12
1933 Bank holidays declared in 6 states, to prevent run on banks
1934 Henry Pu Yi crowned emperor Kang Teh of Manchuria
1934 Primo Carnera beats Tommy Loughran in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1937 1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut)
1937 US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day
1940 12th Academy Awards: "Gone with the Wind", Robert Donat & Vivien Leigh win
1940 Richard Wright's novel "Native Son" is published
1941 "Captain America" appears in a comic book
1941 1st US commercial FM radio station goes on the air, Nashville TN
1941 Himmler inspects Auschwitz concentration camp
1942 3 day Battle of Java Sea ends, US suffers a major naval defeat
1942 Baseball decides that players in military can't play when on furlough
1942 Suriname camp for NSB people opens to save Jews
1942 Tito establishes 2nd Proletarit Brigade in Bosnia
1943 Jewish old age home for disabled in Amsterdam raided
1945 FDR announces success of Yalta Conference
1945 Fieldmarshal Kesselring succeeds von Rundstedt as commander
1946 British Govt takes control of Bank of England, after 252 years
1946 Panamá accepts its new constitution
1947 International Monetary Fund began operations
1949 Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxing champion
1950 Chiang Kai-shek resumed the Presidency of National China on Formosa
1950 Klaus Fuchs sentenced to 14 years for atomic espionage (London)
1953 Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Open
1953 WJZ-AM in New York NY becomes WABC; WJZ-TV in Baltimore final transmission
1954 4 Puerto Ricans open fire in US House of Representatives injuring 5 Representatives
1954 Ted Williams fractures collarbone in 1st game of spring training after flying 39 combat missions without injury in Korean War
1957 Kokomo the Chimp becomes Today Show animal editor
1959 Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus after 3 years
1961 President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
1962 American Airlines 707 plunges nose 1st into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95
1962 K-Mart opens
1962 Uganda became a self-governing country
1966 Ba'ath-party takes power in Syria
1966 Venera 3 becomes 1st man-made object to impact on a planet (Venus)
1967 House of Representatives expels Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr (307 to 116)
1968 NBC's unprecedented on-air announcement, Star Trek will return
1968 Singers Johnny Cash (36) & June Carter (38) wed
1968 Vatican City's Apostolic Constitution of 1967 goes into effect
1969 Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself at Dinner Key Auditorium
1969 New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball
1970 End of US commercial whale hunting
1970 White government of Rhodesia declares independence from Britain
1971 Bomb attack on the Capitol in Washington DC
1972 Club of Rome publishes report "Boundaries on the Growth"
1972 Wilt Chamberlain is 1st NBA player to score 30,000 points
1974 Watergate grand jury indicts 7 Presidential aides
1977 Bank of America adopts the name VISA for their credit cards
1977 US extends territorial waters to 200 miles
1980 Snow falls in Florida
1981 Bobby Sands, IRA member, begins 65-day hunger strike in Maze Prison (he dies)
1982 The New York Times raises it's price from 25¢ to 30¢
1988 Courtney Gibbs Eplin, 21, (Texas), crowned 37th Miss USA
1988 Apple introduces CD-ROM drive
1988 Iraq says it launched 16 missiles into Tehran
1988 Wayne Gretzky passes Gordie Howe with his record 1,050th NHL assist
1993 Authorities in Waco TX negotiate with Branch Davidians
1994 Senate rejectes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution
1997 Rescue teams fought snow, high winds and wild dogs as they tried to bring help to an earthquake-devastated region in northwest Iran, where the death toll was estimated at 3,000.
2001 Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, defying international protests, began destroying all statues in the country.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bayonna Spain : Pinzon Day
Engadine, Switzerland : Chalanda Marz/Coming of spring
Lanark, Lanarkshire Scotland : Whuppity Scoorie Day
Ohio 1803, Nebraska 1867 : Admission Day
Panamá : Constitution Day (1946)
Paraguay : Heroes' Day/National Defense Day/Memorial Day
South Korea : Independence Movement Day/Sam Il Chul (1919)
US : Bad Weather Week Begins
US : National Procrastinators Week Begins..tomorrow
Herb Month in Missouri

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Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Matronalia (Feast of Juno); Kalend Mar
Bahá'í : leap day (in Gregorian leap years) (Ayyám-i-Há 5)
Anglican, Roman Catholic-New Zealand : Commemoration of St David, patron Wales
Bhutan : Buddhist New Years
Lutheran : Commemoration of George Herbert, priest
Cyprus, Greece : Green (or Clean) Monday (1st Mon of Lent-moveable)

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Religious History
1633 On his deathbed, English poet and clergyman George Herbert, 39, uttered these last words: 'I shall be free from sin and all the temptations and anxieties that attend it...I shall dwell... where these eyes shall see my Master and Savior.'
1692 The Salem Witch Trials in the Massachusetts colony officially began with the conviction of Rev. Samuel Parris' West Indian slave, Tituba, for witchcraft.
1810 Georgetown College was chartered in Washington, D.C., making it the first Roman Catholic institution of higher learning established in the United States.
1910 The first issue of "The Evening Light and Church of God Evangel" was published in Cleveland, Tennessee. A. J. Tomlinson, the publishing editor, was an instrumental figure in the history of the Church of God (also headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee).
1966 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: If Jesus is and does what we read in 1 John 2:2, then He prays for all men: for those who already pray and for those who do not yet pray.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow."

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You Know You're Having A Bad Day When...
Your doctor tells you that you're allergic to chocolate.

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New State Slogans...
New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here!

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Astounding Fact #905...
The Hoover Dam was built to last 2,000 years. The concrete in it will not even be fully cured for another 500 years.

[SAMWolf]

Morning aeronaut

Burt Rutan's Grizzly, an R&D aircraft used to determine the feasibility of flaps on a canard aircraft

I don't know if it looks weirder from the side or from the top!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mayor.

[The Mayor]

Hi Sam!

[Soaring Feather]

Good Monday morning everyone in the FOXHOLE!

[Aeronaut]

Hi Sam. The wheels are attached to the landing gear by epoxied rope. It really looks strange, like it was just tied on.

[SAMWolf]

1904 Glenn Miller bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood)

Mark Postlethwaite's illustration of the Norseman carrying Major Glenn Miller as it allegedly flew through bombs being dropped by RAF planes over the Channel on their return to Great Britain on Dec. 15, 1944.

A PERSONAL VIEW Since The New York Times article below appeared at the end of 1985, a number of people, mostly from the United Kingdom and South Africa and some from the United States, have come forth to offer their own alleged first-hand accounts of Glenn Miller's disappearance. Some have told their versions several times in recent years, often revising their stories or even changing them.

Why these people waited more than 40 and sometimes more than 50 years to come forth is more of a mystery to me than Glenn Miller's disappearance itself.

Decide for yourself....

I have never seen any reason not to accept the official version of Major Alton G. Miller's disappearance that was announced by the BBC to a war-weary world on Christmas Eve 1944, namely, that on Dec. 15th the famous bandleader disappeared in a small plane en route from England to Paris somewhere over the English Channel. Miller was on his way to make arrangements for his Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces to give a Christmas Day concert in Paris for Allied troops.

Miller was flying in a Norseman on a day when that small plane should never have been allowed to take off. According to Miller's friend and biographer, the late George T. Simon, the atrocious weather had already delayed Miller for two days. Anxious to make the crossing, Miller accepted an offer to make the trip with Col. Norman Baesell, who was going to Paris on that day no matter what. Baesell had to conduct essential war business; namely, he had to refill empty champagne bottles for the holidays.

Simon writes that when Miller boarded the small plane, the band leader asked Baesell where the parachutes were.

"What's the matter, Miller?" Baesell asked. "Do you want to live forever?"

George Spink
Tuxedo Junction