The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-06-01

the Elghty-Second Division was q
unit. said to York in the presence Of
all the officers Of the division:
Your division commander has re-
ported to me your exceedingly gallant
conduct during the operations OF your
division in the Meuse- Argonne battle
l desire to express to you my pleas.
ure and compensation for the cour-
age, skill and gallantry which you
displayed on that occasion. 1t is an
honor to command such soldiers as
you. Your conduct reflects great
credit not only upon the American
Army, but upon the American people
as we'll. Your deeds will be recorded
in the history OF the great war; and
they will live as an inspiration not
only to your comrades but to the gen.
erations that will come after US.
wish to commend you publicly and in
the presence OF the officers of your
DIVISION
1t Is difficult to tell Just what effec,
York's exploits and the adulation he
has received win have upon his future
career. Military observers who have
studied the way he carried on in his
battle with the Germans have said the
man is an inherent military genius
but his lack OF education would prob
ably handicap him in military life
And then, again, he has no liking for
army life as such. and very likely
would not consent to stay Inf the
army even If he got a commission.
Moving picture concerns and maya
ri IA
beseeched him TO act for them and to
write for them, but to all of their
offers York has turned a deaf ear,
even though one concern offered him a
thousand dollars a week for a years
contract. 1t Is altogether likely that
York will go back to Pail Mall. Tenn,
and back to the shack where his
mother and his four brothers and his
three sisters await him. and there re-
sumo his work as a blacksmith and a
farmer and as second elder in the
Church Of Christ and Christian Union
That is what he has always done; II
is what his fathers did before him,
people who know the Tennessee noun
tain character are unable to imagine
York in any other work, unless 1t hap
pened that the war made greater
changes in him than are apparent on
the surface.
Sergeant York is an American OF
Americans. Some one who asked him
how long his ancestors had dwelt in
Possum Trot Valley in the mountains
of Tennessee was told by the Sergeant
that so far as he knew they had been
there since the beginning of time. But
eminent and educated citizens of Ten
nessee who know York's breed of folks
and their worth will say that he prob
ably is descended from sturdy Irish,
English or Scotch stock that came to
this country before the American
Revolution. And after all York's feat
of arms was not so surprising in one
way.
The bravery and devotion to duty of
the Southern mountaineer, once he
sees his duty and understands It,. has
always been recognized by those who
know his kind. Men OF York's sort
were among the bravest soldiers in the
Army Of the Confederacy, and men OF
the type of York made good soldiers in
the war against Germany. People who
know them say that almost any man
of York's kind would have carried on
Just as bravely as the Sergeant did.
but IL is extremely unlikely that any
other man. unless he too was an in
herent military genius. could have car
ried as successfully as the Sergeant
did.
Sergeant York was born In Pail Mall.
Tenn, thirty-two years ago, and never