A Higher Power: The Ballad of Sergeant Alvin C. York

He was a hard-drinking, hard-fighting mountain boy from the Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf in Pall Mall, Tennessee. Then, at a revival on New Year's Day 1915, Alvin York knelt at the altar and gave his life to God. When the draft came in 1917, his faith told him "Thou shalt not kill." He spent two days and a night praying on a mountainside, asking whether a Christian could go to war. He came down believing God would carry him through. On October 8, 1918, in the Argonne Forest in France, York and 16 other men slipped behind German lines. Nine of them were killed or wounded. York kept fighting, and by the end of the day he and the few survivors had marched 132 prisoners back to American lines. He received the Medal of Honor, but he never took the credit. As he put it, "A higher power than man power guided and watched over me." Back home, he turned down fortunes from Broadway and Hollywood, saying, "This uniform ain't for sale." He married his sweetheart, Gracie, and built a school so mountain children could get an education. This Appalachian folk gospel ballad tells his story: a sinner saved by grace, a soldier who trusted God, and a hero who gave all the glory away. Credits: Music generated with Suno AI Artwork: AI-generated illustration (not a historical photograph)