The battle won by Cpl. Alvin Cullum York in 1918 is being refought by researchers armed with global-positioning satellites and metal detectors. A group of Tennessee professors claim to have found the original site in France where York and 16 other American soldiers reportedly captured 132 Germans during World War I. In the process, the researchers are raising questions about some of the exploits that made York a legend.
The official story goes that Corporal York, a backwoods sharpshooter and reluctant soldier, single-handedly killed 25 enemy soldiers and stopped 35 German machine-gun nests that were picking off an approaching American force. His heroics earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor and a promotion to sergeant, and his legend was cemented when Gary Cooper portrayed the Christian pacifist turned war hero in the 1941 movie Sergeant York, earning the actor an Academy Award.
Now, using sophisticated technology, researchers are wondering whether the machine-gun nests were spread too far apart to match the official description about what happened that day. Although nobody denies that what York did was heroic, researchers are trying to separate truth from tall tale. (The New York Times)
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