The Other Sixteen, an Interview with James Gregory

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 812 Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2019

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’re taking a short break from the Meuse-Argonne narrative to listen to a different angle on a very famous event. It happens that the famous event occurred during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, so this ties in nicely with our current focus.

Most of us have heard of or know the story of Alvin York, the famous SGT York who took on dozens of Germans, killed several, and captured 132. He is one of the most famous--if not THE most famous--American soldiers to emerge from the Great War. However, on the fateful day of October 8, 1918, York was part of a squad with sixteen other men engaged in battle.

In this episode we’re going to have James Gregory talk to us about his upcoming article “The Other Sixteen,” which focuses on the other men who were with Alvin York that fateful day in the hills near Chatel-Chehery near the northern tip of the Argonne Forest.

James Gregory is pursuing a PhD at the University of Oklahoma. He is a noted author and historian of the Marine Corps and Second Division in World War I. He deals primarily with soldier biographies and cultural impacts of the war, and I thoroughly look forward to listening to the results of his research.

“The Other Sixteen” will be available soon in the US Army’s Infantry magazine, which can be found online at:

https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/magazine/

Jame’s two books can be found here:

https://www.hellgatepress.com/james-p-gregory-jr/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks, welcome to the Battles of the First World War podcast.
0:06.0	So, we're taking a short break from the narrative to listen to a different angle on a very famous event.
0:15.0	It happens that the famous event occurred during the Murs-Argonne Offensive, so so of course it ties in nicely with our current focus.
0:24.8	Seasoned World War I enthusiasts will likely know at least the outlines of the story of Sergeant
0:30.7	Alvin York, one of the most famous, if not the most famous American soldiers to emerge from the Great War, from the popular website,
0:40.6	History.com.
0:42.7	The events of October 8, 1918, took place as part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, what was to be
0:50.2	the final Allied push against German forces on the Western Front during World War I.
0:56.1	York and his battalion were given the task of seizing German-held positions across a valley.
1:01.5	After encountering difficulties, a small group of soldiers, numbering some 17 men, were fired upon
1:07.8	by a German machine gun nest at the top of a nearby hill.
1:11.6	The gunners cut down nine men, including a superior officer, leaving York in charge of the squad.
1:18.4	Several other American soldiers followed York's lead and began firing.
1:23.1	As they drew closer to the machine gun nest, the German commander, thinking he had underestimated
1:28.5	the size of the enemy squadron, surrendered his garrison of some 90 men.
1:33.8	On the way back to the Allied lines, York and his squad took more prisoners, for a total
1:38.6	of 132.
1:41.2	Though Alvin York consistently played down his accomplishments of that day, he was given credit for killing more than 20 German soldiers.
1:49.0	Promoted to the rank of sergeant, he remained on the front lines until November 1st, 10 days before the armistice.
1:56.3	In April 1919, York was awarded the highest American military decoration, the Medal of Honor,
2:03.6	unquote.
2:06.1	In this episode, we're going to have James Gregory talk to us about his upcoming article,
	...

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