MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you ask Gerald York about his grandfather, you would hear about his World War I Medal of Honor, but also about his dedication to something else he did after.
"He said he wanted to be remembered for the contribution to education for mountain children," said York.
Educating others about history also keeps Gerald busy because he finds younger generations don't understand.
"I found it amazing. The school kids I talked to, I asked them, 'What do you know about WWI?' They didn't know anything about WWI," said York.
Locals driving by in Murfreesboro know the Alvin C. York VA Medical Center named after Gerald's grandfather, a war hero. He died 60 years ago, but Alvin York's story means more to Gerald than just birthday cake.
Gerald said during World War I Alvin fought in France. From a Tennessee town, Alvin found himself in charge of a small group, which was the target for nearby Germans.
"The only thing he could was try to stop the machine guns," said Gerald.
Alvin managed to free them from heavy gunfire.
"He silenced about 25 machine guns and ended up capturing about 132 officers," said Gerald.
With his prisoners, they finally managed to get the Germans to surrender.
"My grandfather asked him which way back to the American lines. The guy thought for a minute and said 'that way' and my grandfather 'said okay we are going this way,'" said Gerald.
Alvin and seven other men got to American lines and the legendary 15 minutes saved the French town.
"They said if it had not been for that action, the Germans would have taken the town," said Gerald.
Alvin York would go on to bring education to those East Tennessee children while both he and his grandson helped those remember the weight of World War I.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Kim.Rafferty@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
