Sargent York!

[Nat]

A few weeks backs there was a post where someone had just watched the movie about Sargent York.The topic was on his farm in TN.
I went to the Southeast Old Time Threashers Reunion today and made a couple pics of Sargent Yorks personal tractor the he bought new in 1958. Hope someone enjoys these. Later, Nat

 

[2manyrocks]

Did Sgt. York write the saying on the hood of the tractor or was it added by a later owner? It's unusual to see any sayings written on a tractor at all (except for all the warnings statements they put on new ones). I can't picture Sgt York on a tractor, so this is quite an informative post to me.

 

[jimmyj]

Thanks Nat. The new owner is a lucky fellow to have a piece of history like that. And an AC to boot (I have a fondness for old AC's).

I also wonder about the script on the tractor.

 

[Nat]

The script wasn't there on it the first time I saw it when it was still unrestored so I know the current owner had it done. He has a very informative write-up detailing the history of it and of Sgt. Alvin York's farm. You never know about people but from the amount of info he has and pictures of the farm, historical copies of deeds and other stuff he has in the write-up I'd bet that all is correct. later, nat

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks Nat, that's pretty cool.

I wonder what he used to farm with before he bought the tractor in 1958? Is there another, even older tractor out there? or was he using mules?

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Did Sgt. York write the saying on the hood of the tractor or was it added by a later owner?

I don't know whether he put it on the tractor, or whether the real Sergeant York said it or not, but it's a quote from what Gary Cooper said in the movie.

 

[2manyrocks]

Well, I haven't been able to find out if Sgt. York actually said it or not, but apparently it was the last line in the Gary Cooper movie that Bird mentioned. I did find a favorable review of the movie as something to watch on DVD.

I did find this book on line: Sergeant York And His People by Sam K. Cowan - Project Gutenberg

It is a truly amazing personal story.

 

[Bignoles]

That is really cool Nat. Thanks for posting the pics. I have seen the movie several times and read some about Sgt. York's life. From what I understand the movie was "embellished" a little, but dang it's good! The good works he did after the The War is impressive also, he earned his spot on the list of American heroes.

 

[2manyrocks]

Based on what Bird has said about the phrase "The Lord sure do work in mysterious ways" coming from the Gary Cooper movie and based on Nat's saying that the current owner painted this on the tractor, I suspect Sgt. Cooper didn't say this about himself. I think it is an observation made through the movie about Sgt. York's remarkable life.

As I was reading about Sgt. York, he was described as being under strong religious conviction about not killing and was apparently going to be a conscientious and religious objector to his being drafted for WWI until he found a verse that he believed permitted him to serve as a soldier.

York is credited with "taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others" largely by himself because the surviving members of his small unit were pinned down. York would have been using a bolt action rifle with about a 5 shot magazine and a Colt .45 autoloading pistol. In reading the book, it is plainly evident that York gave credit to God for his own survival. And in his later life, it is evident that he turned away quite a bit of money for his "story" because of his convictions.

So in the context of what happened in Sgt. York's life and how he lived, I can now understand why the owner of the tractor would deem it appropriate to paint this phrase summing up Sgt. York's life on Sgt. York's tractor.

 

[fast1]

hmm thanks for the summary, seems like a good movie, maybe i should go catch it