October 8, 1918: The Heroics of Sergeant York

October 8, 1918: In Chatel-Chéhéry, in the Argonne Forest in northeastern France, near the border with Belgium, Corporal Alvin C. York attacks a German machine gun position, killing several soldiers with his rifle and then, having run out of ammunition, with his pistol. The commander of the German position surrendered it to him.

York was 30 years old at the time. He had been a pacifist growing up on a Tennessee farm, an his application for conscientious objector status was denied. He was assigned to the U.S. Army's 82nd Division, which later became an Airborne division and one of the Army's most famed units. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He became a hero among the Allies of World War I, and was later promoted to the rank of a full Colonel in the Tennessee National Guard.

He later worked as an official for the Civilian Conservation Corps and as superintendent of Cumberland Mountain State Park. In 1941, with patriotism on their mind as America approached World War II, Warner Brothers made the film Sergeant York, and Gary Cooper won an Academy Award for his portrayal. The real Alvin York lived until 1964.

It has been noted that, on the 1960s TV show Bewitched, the character of Darrin Stephens was played first by Dick York (no relation), then by Dick Sargent, and that this can be rearranged as "Sargent York."

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October 8, 1918 was a Tuesday. The baseball season had been cut short due to the war. Football was in midweek. It was too soon for the NHL season to start. And professional basketball barely existed. So there were no scores on this historic day.