York's famous Machinegun finds a home

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FINDING SERGEANT YORK

By James Legg, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA)


In April 2009 I participated in the third and latest field season of the Sergeant York Project, in the Argonne Forest in northern France. I have often visited the Western Front, but have never had the opportunity to work there. As a battlefield archaeologist and a serious student of the Great War, I was very pleased that I could finally combine those interests in a field project.

Dr. Thomas Nolan, a historical geographer at Middle Tennessee University, created the Sergeant York Project. His goal was to locate and interpret the particular site of Alvin York’s Medal of Honor action, on October 8th, 1918 (see Legend of Sergeant York p. 22). Nolan used a combination of historical research, his GIS expertise, and archaeology to convincingly demonstrate the location. Field seasons in March and November, 2006 yielded a distribution of artifacts that clearly match the details of the York action. The site is in a part of the Argonne Forest that was not otherwise fought over, allowing a degree of archaeological clarity that would be difficult or impossible to find in most areas of the Western Front. The York project was the topic of Nolan’s Texas State University dissertation submitted in 2007 (see “Further Reading,” p. 21).

By mid-2008, controversy was brewing. A second “York location” project claimed an entirely different site, some 500 meters north of Nolan’s site (see “Further Reading,” p. 21). The other project was clearly not in the correct location, but their findings received credulous press coverage, they maintained an attractive and convincing web site, and they ultimately erected a monument and prepared a walking trail on the non-site! Brad Posey, an American military historian and expert metal detector technician living in Germany, convinced Tom Nolan that an additional field season might add weight to his under-publicized case. Posey had examined the methods and claims of both projects, and he conducted extensive historical research in both US and German archives, including much material that neither York project had utilized. Nolan applied for a new archaeological permit, and after considerable delay in scheduling, he set the dates for his third field season as April 7th to 17th, 2009. I was invited to participate as the project “battlefield archaeologist,” although that was essentially what everyone would be doing. I had seen both sites and had studied the historical record, and I knew I wanted to be involved.

I flew into the Frankfurt airport on the morning of April 6th, and was met by my old friend Brad Posey, whose car was heavily laden with field gear and supplies. A few hours later we were on the Meuse-Argonne battlefield, and we checked into a large rental house that Tom Nolan had reserved in the village of Fleville, a few kilometers east of the York site. The project team that assembled there included individuals from the US, Germany, France, Britain, and the Netherlands. Project oversight and heavy equipment were provided by Yves DesFosses, the regional archaeologist for the Department of Champagne-Ardennes – Yves is a Celtic specialist who has developed a strong interest in Great War archaeology (see “Further Reading,” p. 21).

We began work on the morning of the 7th, and worked through the next 11 days, with lab work and analysis in the evenings. There were two major goals. First, we wanted to repeat the metal detector survey of the site, and expand its boundaries. While he had recorded hundreds of artifacts, Tom Nolan was concerned that the metal detecting in the first two brief seasons was too hurried and unsystematic, and that much material had been overlooked (he was correct). Second, we wanted to locate evidence of the temporary burials of the six Americans of York’s patrol who were killed during the action. Five of the six burials were reasonably located in US graves registration records, and the earlier metal detecting had found artifacts probably related to the sixth individual. The grave search would involve metal detecting, hand excavation, and mechanical stripping.

The intensive metal detector coverage continued throughout the project, with as many as five experienced detector operators working at a time. We strived for 100%, systematic coverage within our search areas, and also conducted reconnaissance searches of adjacent landforms. Each artifact was bagged and marked with a provenience number, and it was then collected and replaced with a pin flag bearing the same number. The pin flag locations were later recorded using a survey-grade GPS unit – or at least that was the intention. The narrow valley where the York action took place was defined by very steep hillsides covered with hardwood forest. Tom Nolan knew from previous experience that he would have difficulty recording hundreds of long, reliable GPS readings in such terrain, and he had arranged with a French contractor to provide relay equipment that would solve the problem. There was some sort of compatibility problem with this solution, however, and we had to resort to primitive technology. We set a series of datum stakes across the site which were recorded with hard-won GPS readings, and then mapped dozens of artifacts from each stake using compass and tape.

The collection derived from the metal detecting was huge, and like the 2006 collections, its distribution fit remarkably well with the events of October 8th, 1918. Through most of the valley, and on the hill slope to the north, there was very little WWI material, reflecting the fact that there was no other combat in the immediate vicinity. In the area where we think the German prisoners were clustered, there was a well-defined mass of German material including hundreds of unfired 7.92mm rifle cartridges, stick grenades, gas mask components, mess equipment, entrenching tools, personal items, etc. This was consistent with the POWs abandoning their weapons and equipment, and it suggested the extent of the loose perimeter formed by their outnumbered American captors. The postulated American perimeter included a scatter of impacted German rifle/machinegun bullets, as well as very strong evidence for all of the temporary American burials. Up the steep, wooded slope to the east of the POW cluster, we found abundant evidence for the other German force, the machine gunners and riflemen who were engaged and ultimately defeated by Alvin York. Finally, at the base of the slope, between the German POWs and the upslope Germans who put up a fight, we found a small scatter of US .45 ACP pistol and .30”06 rifle cartridge cases that were probably fired by Alvin York.

The first of the probable grave locations we examined is likely that of Corporal Murray Savage, a friend of Alvin York, who York saw riddled with machinegun bullets. His remains were removed in 1921. A 1919 photo shows Savage’s field grave cut into the base of a slope, and covered with equipment including his rifle, cartridge belt and canteen cover. In 2006, metal detecting located artifacts including the remains of a US cartridge belt and 70 unfired .30’06 cartridges, canteen cover hardware, and a US helmet at such a location, very near where we think York was positioned during the action. I excavated a 1x2 meter unit at this spot in the hope of finding some evidence of the grave pit. I found additional web gear hardware, US helmet liner parts, and the sole of a US hobnailed shoe, but no indication of a soil feature. Yves DesFosses then directed the stripping of a larger area using a backhoe, still without success. We agreed that the color and character of the soil were such that a shallow, backfilled excavation might be difficult or impossible to detect. (Not far from the probable Savage grave, we found an American pocket watch – the opening of the watch case that evening was attended with much excitement, but it was, alas, not engraved).

Corporal Savage’s grave was incorrectly plotted in the graves registration records, which placed it nowhere near either “York location,” yet we know that he fell by York and was buried there. The other two grave locations appear to have been accurately plotted, including a row of four burials (Privates Dymowski, Swanson, Wareing and Weiler), and the isolated grave of Private Wine. Both localities are on the opposite (west) side of the American perimeter around the POWs, on the west side of the creek. The plotted vicinity of the four-man grave (removed in 1919) yielded a well-defined cluster of US artifacts in both 2006 and 2009. These included a helmet, web equipment hardware, unfired rifle ammunition, mess utensils, a pocket knife, an opened bandage can, a uniform button, and a collar insignia for “G” Company, 328th Infantry Regiment. A 1919 photo of the four graves includes distant terrain details of the west slope of the valley, and these match the view from the location of the US artifact cluster (the photo also shows that at least three of the graves are marked with helmets in addition to crosses). A shallow depression is readily apparent at the probable grave location – unfortunately, a large tree is centered in the depression, and with the limited time available we did not undertake the difficult hand excavation that would have been required to investigate it. Yves DesFosses stripped the topsoil from several trenches around the depression, but we detected no grave feature. Private Wine’s solitary grave was not photographed, but its location is well described in the records, and when Wine was removed in 1921its depth was given as one foot. At approximately the plotted location of Wine’s grave, metal detecting yielded a US mess knife and spoon, the knife marked “G/328,” in a cluster of small trees. Subsequent mechanical stripping by Yves DesFosses uncovered the missing fork from the set, as well as portions of a US helmet liner. Given the tree cover and the depth of the original grave it is not surprising that we did not detect a grave stain.

While the results of the various grave investigations were not as clear cut as we had hoped, I am firmly convinced that we have located the three documented burial sites. I should emphasize that the US artifacts discussed in this context are not “cherry-picked” from a broad scatter of American material – with the exception of ammunition specimens, these “grave” artifacts comprise the American collection, and they are indeed clustered in three tight locations. Those locations fit well with the historical narrative of the York action, with the pattern of the general artifact distribution, and, in two cases, with the locations recorded in 1919 and 1921. After some 32 years of working in historical archaeology, I am accustomed to seeing, at best, an ambiguous agreement between the historical record and the archaeological evidence on a site. In this case, the very detailed and well-supported participant narratives of the York action fit astonishingly well with the current landscape and the archaeological data.




The Legend of Sergeant York (Page 22)

Corporal Alvin York began the morning of October 8th, 1918, as a fairly ordinary draftee soldier in “G” Company, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Division, American Expeditionary Force. He was a humble, born-again farmer and hunter from the Tennessee mountains, a remarkably good shot, and a one-time conscientious objector. By the afternoon of October 8th, he was well on his way into the realm of warrior legend.

York’s unit was engaged in the great Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest and final American offensive of the war. The Meuse-Argonne lasted from September 26th, 1918 until the end of the war on November 11th. Approximately 1.2 million Americans participated, of whom about 27,000 were killed and 96,000 were wounded, gassed or otherwise disabled. The left flank of the offensive faced German defenses in the Argonne Forest, a dense, dark woodland covering a range of steep hills with narrow valleys. On October 8th the 328th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd attacked westward, over open ground, toward the eastern edge of the Argonne Forest. The German defenders held high ground inside the forest both straight ahead (west), and to the left flank (south) of the 328th attack. Numerous German machineguns firing from both directions inflicted heavy casualties on the Americans, and the attackers were pinned down several hundred meters short of the forest. A patrol of men from “G” Company was quickly organized and tasked with neutralizing the machineguns firing from a wooded ridge to the south. The patrol was commanded by Sergeant Bernard Early, and totaled 17 men, including Alvin York. Early led his men to the rear, away from the attack, and then turned south and west. They managed to infiltrate into the Argonne Forest at a point that was not defended by the Germans, and they proceeded deep into the German rear, intending to attack the machineguns from behind. Early’s patrol climbed down a steep slope into a narrow, overgrown valley bisected by a small creek; the valley pointed north, toward the 328th attack. Moving up the valley toward the sound of the German machineguns, the Americans suddenly encountered a group of several dozen Germans resting and eating breakfast between the creek and the base of the eastern slope. The Germans were completely surprised and quickly surrendered, and Early arranged his outnumbered men to form a perimeter around the POWs. Suddenly a heavy fire opened from additional Germans positioned up on the eastern slope – six Americans were killed, three others were wounded, including Early. The survivors were pinned down in the valley, along with their prisoners.

Corporal Alvin York was now in command of the remains of the Early patrol, but he did his own fighting. From his position between the POWs and the enemy force on the hillside above him, York began shooting individual Germans in the head with his rifle, whenever they attempted to take aim at himself or other Americans. While York was heavily outgunned, the Germans were actually in a difficult position, as York’s location at the base of the steep slope required them to expose themselves in order to fire effectively. They were not able to simply blaze away with rifles and machineguns in York’s general direction, as he was positioned in front of a large mass of prone POWs. Recognizing the problem, a German officer led five men in a rush to kill York while he was reloading his rifle. York shot all six Germans with his .45 automatic pistol. Ultimately the surviving Germans on the slope joined the POWs in the valley. York organized the prisoners into a column and marched them out, capturing still more groups before he reached friendly positions. The official prisoner total was 132, and York was credited with killing 25 Germans. The 328th attack, meanwhile, was successful.

York was promoted to Sergeant, but much more was to come. An official investigation of the action in the valley led to a Medal of Honor, and a blaze of publicity in 1919. “Sergeant York” was a national hero and a household name in the years after the Great War. In 1941 Warner Brothers released “Sergeant York,” starring Gary Cooper, a popular patriotic morality tale with some tenuous connections to the facts. The movie revived York’s fame, and he was still well known among Americans when he died in 1964. Like the Great War itself, Alvin York has since begun the long slide into oblivion, forgotten or only vaguely recognized by most Americans today. His legend, at least, was one well grounded in reality. He was real, and he really did what they say he did in that remote ravine in the Argonne Forest.



Acknowledgements


I agreed to participate in the 2009 York project as a volunteer, at my own expense, but in the end my costs were substantially covered by the contributions or considerations of Charlie Cobb, Stan South, Brad Posey, Rebecca Barrera, Birgit Anderson, Michael Kelly, and Tom Nolan. All are warmly thanked.


Further Reading (Page 21)

Tom Nolan’s 2007 dissertation, “Battlefield Landscapes: Geographic Information Science as a Method of Integrating History and Archaeology for Battlefield Interpretation” is available online at http://ecommons.txstate.edu/geogtad/5/. Until the 2009 field work and additional historical research are reflected in a new report, this is the best single source for the site, its history, and its archaeology. Details will change, but the original work is basically sound.
The website for the Sergeant York Project is at http://www.sergeantyorkproject.com. The site is currently undergoing an overdue update and expansion. Michael Kelly’s Sergeant York of the Argonne Tour Guide (Ennogra Forest Publications, 2008) is a useful field guide to the York site and numerous other Meuse-Argonne locations. Michael is a British Western Front historian and a professional battlefield guide who has supported and participated in both the 2006 and 2009 York field projects. David Lee’s Sergeant York: An American Hero (University Press of Kentucky, 1985) is a good scholarly biography of Alvin York and his legend. Lee’s map of the York action is inaccurate, however. Edward Lengel’s To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918 (Henry Holt and Co., 2008) is a long-awaited full narrative of the near-fiasco that was America’s greatest battle before Normandy in 1944. This is one of the best military histories I have read. French archaeologists Yves DesFosses, Alain Jaques and Gilles Prilaux have written a heavily illustrated survey of the new field of Western Front archaeology, published in English as Great War Archaeology (INRAP, Editions Ouest France, 2009). This remarkable book includes a discussion of the 2006 York field work. Finally, it should be obvious that I am entirely convinced of the correctness of the York locality that I worked on. In the interest of fairness, however, I will record that the website and online report of the “other” York project can be found at http://www.sgtyorkdiscovery.com/. This can be convincing material for the uninitiated – be sure to contrast it with a careful reading of Tom Nolan’s dissertation. It is my opinion that the “other” project was well intentioned, but amounted to an unsystematic, unprovenienced, and unauthorized relic hunt on the battlefield of the main 328th attack on October 8th, 1918 (where, of course, there were thousands of American and German artifacts).





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[Napalm]

Fantastic reading Brad and thanks for the update. I suspect this one will run and run...:-)

[Brad Posey]

Here is another article that was published in the Western Front Association Bulletin 84, June/July 2009.

The author, Stephan van Meulebrouck, is a military historian and journalist who has taken an objective look at both team’s reserach for the correct location of Sergeant York’s heroics. I think you will find his article intriquing. His interviews with all of the key players in this contoversy are very revealing.

I will follow the scans of the article with a text only posting in case you have trouble seeing the scans clearly.





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HOT ON THE YORK TRAIL?


By: Stephan van Meulebrouck
Published: Western Front Association Bulliten 84, June/July 2009



Châtel-Chéhéry – a tranquil village of less than 150 inhabitants in the Argonne region of northern France. The local château bears the scars of artillery fire from back in 1918; its garden offers a panoramic view of the valley of the Meuse. Stretching out more or less parallel to that valley, but then on the other side of the village, is a low range of hills, covered in a fairytale-like forest of birch and beech.

That forest, for many Americans, is sacred ground. It was here, on 8 October 1918, that Alvin York of Tennessee performed the deeds that would make him the most-decorated American soldier of the First World War. He is credited with having single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and taking 132 prisoners. His actions that day made York a hero of unparalleled status. And in 1941 his popularity was boosted even further with the appearance of the movie Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper, who won an Oscar for his title role.

The exact location of York's heroics was never accurately documented. But a research team led by Lt. Colonel Douglas Mastriano, an American intelligence officer stationed in Germany, claims now to have found the spot. The crowning glory of Mastriano's work was the unveiling, on Saturday, 4 October 2008, of a monument in the woods behind Châtel-Chéhéry. He is, the officer says, 100% certain that his team has found the ‘York spot’. ‘The debate is over.’ But others have their doubts and are skeptical about his research methods. ‘They have destroyed a part of their own historical heritage.’


GERMAN ARCHIVES


Thirty years ago it was the movie that put Douglas Mastriano on the trail of Alvin York. ‘Later I became a historian and taught military history. It frustrated me to find that, from a military point of view, there was no convincing description of York's story. So I began combing the American archives.’

In 2002 he was transferred to Germany. There the intelligence officer had the opportunity to dig through the German archives as well. In that same year he also paid his first visit to the Argonne region. His team, the ‘Sergeant York Discovery Expedition (SYDE)’, was put together four years later. Intensive searches of the former battlefield brought to light slugs, cartridge cases, buttons, buckles and much more. First the lay of the land was analyzed. Did the eyewitness reports jibe with the characteristics of the terrain itself? What would be the logical location, from a military point of view, for the York Spot? These and many other questions received an answer in a report published in January 2007.

Mastriano's ace in the hole? The German archives. The York Spot had to be located along the border between two sections of the front, there where the 120th and 125th Würtembergische Landwehr regiments had their encampments that day. ‘York, after all, captured soldiers from both of those regiments.’ As coup de grace, the SYDE went on to find 21 cartridges that must have come from the Colt .45 belonging to York himself, who was known to have fired precisely that many bullets from his automatic pistol. Their conclusion: the search was over. Mastriano and his team had finally found the spot where it all happened.


COLAR INSIGNIA


Meanwhile, however, a second group of researchers had gone to work as well. Leader of this ‘Sergeant York Project’ is Dr. Thomas Nolan, geographer and head of the Laboratory for Spatial Technology at the University of Middle Tennessee. His specialty is the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to military history. ‘As a Tennessean I had, of course, always been fascinated by York. And his story was also an interesting case for the application of GIS.’

Nolan made a reconstruction of the relevant section of the Argonne as it must have looked at the time, and projected that onto today's landscape. That, in combination with historical and archaeological research, was supposed to answer the question of where York performed his memorable deeds. Four months after the SYDE report came out, Nolan presented his conclusions in a dissertation. The York Spot, the geographer said, was somewhere else. ‘Mastriano based his work on the German archives, but they're not all that reliable. The Germans had just pulled out of Châtel-Chéhéry and were retreating in disorderly fashion; they couldn't really pinpoint their exact location.’ Let alone document that position clearly in their archives.

Nolan looked instead for a likely spot based on American sources. On that same October day in 1918, six of York's comrades were killed. They were buried at - or close to - where the actual gunfight took place. After the war their bodies were transferred to a permanent cemetery, but the geographical coordinates of the original graves were recorded. There, at that very spot, Nolan's team found a bronze collar insignia with the inscription ‘328 G’ – proof that they were hot on the trail. York, after all, had served with the ‘G’ Company of the 328th Infantry Regiment. Nolan is not impressed by the SYDE's finds. ‘The ground there is peppered with artifacts.’

The geographer accuses Mastriano of a lack of professionalism. ‘It's absurd to say that you're a hundred percent sure of yourself. A scientist may never claim to know the absolute truth.’ Later he adds: ‘Our team was the only one with a permit for archaeological research. In fact, you could say that Mastriano's expedition was illegal.’ What's more, he notes, a plot of forest was cut down to accommodate the monument. ‘That has caused irreparable damage to the site.’

In December of 2007, Army History, the journal of the U.S. Army Center of Military History, asked Nolan to submit an article. Along with a contribution from Mastriano it would appear in the journal's autumn edition. ‘They backed out, though, and I have no idea why. It's never been my goal to attract a lot of publicity; I'm primarily interested in scientific research. But now I have no forum.’


SILLY


Douglas Mastriano says it is ‘arrogant’ of his rival to make claims about the German archive material. ‘He's never seen those archives. What's more, his team didn't even include any military experts. And the Germans did not withdraw in a panic, they were actually planning a counteroffensive.’ When asked, Nolan admits that, due to a lack of time and funding, he never actually did visit the German archives.

Mastriano has little patience with the claim that the SYDE destroyed its own research site. The place where the monument now stands, he says, was investigated painstakingly beforehand, by hand. ‘While the other team actually used a backhoe!’

But what about the accusation that he operated without a permit? ‘That's silly,’ is the officer's reaction. ‘A desperate statement by a desperate man. I asked for and received permission from everyone who mattered: the local mayor and the gendarmerie. Now that they've lost the debate, they've decided to switch to an ad hominem attack.’ In his view, the best proof that he played by the rules – and that his version of the story has been accepted as the only correct one – is the very York Trail he had laid out at Châtel-Chéhéry. A walking path several kilometers long, following in the footsteps of Alvin York. ‘The proof is in the pudding. If there had been any doubt, the French would not have allowed that.’

Mastriano stresses that not only the local authorities, but also the American and French armies endorse his findings, as does the Center of Military History – ‘the Army's last word in history.’ The suggestion that, under the circumstances, his own institute might not be the most impartial observer is one he dismisses irritatedly. ‘Your supposition is utterly ridiculous.’ He suggests that we take a good look at the independent endorsements of his findings on the SYDE website. But, at the moment of this writing, there was still not a single independent, scientific expression of support to be found there. Not from the French army, either. True enough, the site does include the copy of a letter in French. But that letter endorses nothing. It is merely an internal memo concerning Mastriano's request to be allowed to build the trail.


SITE RUINED


Yves Desfossés has his offices in Châlons-en-Champagne, the capital of the French region of Champagne-Ardenne. Desfossés is the regional archaeological curator, in the service of the Ministry of Culture and Communication. Without a permit from Desfossés, no metal detector may be used within his district – including the Argonne. He is quite adamant about that: it is across his desk that all permit applications must pass. Not that of the local mayor, and not that of the police.

Thomas Nolan requested just such a permit and received it. But, as it turned out, the competing SYDE team had already conducted its search in the Argonne – operating on its own authorization. Desfossés had, in fact, never heard of Mastriano at the time. In December of 2006 he finally spoke to the lieutenant-colonel. ‘His methodology appeared not to be particularly accurate. At that point he asked me for a permit for further research, but I turned him down.’ Desfossés refuses to speak of a criminal offence. ‘I think Mastriano simply didn't know that a permit was needed. And, by the way, I suspect that afterwards he went on with his digs anyway.’

The curator is surprised to hear that the SYDE report mentions him as one of the ‘valuable partners/friends who made the discovery possible.’ ‘That's simply not true. I met Mastriano only once, and I told him at the time that I did not agree with his methods.’ And why was that? ‘Mastriano was already convinced that he had found the exact spot. That's where he looked, and that is also where he found those 21 cartridges. Of course, that is much too obvious. Clearly it was not an objective investigation. Nolan took a scientific approach. And at the spots where his team worked, one will still be able to carry out archaeological research in the future. While Mastriano ruined his research site.’

But what does he think about the backhoe? ‘Did you see the photograph of that machine in Nolan's thesis? I'm one of the people standing beside it. Those excavations were, in fact, carried out under my auspices.’ At the time, Nolan had been looking for the original graves of York's comrades. The coordinates, after all, were public knowledge. ‘And I myself was also curious to find out whether something like that could still be traced, ninety years after the fact.’ Because metal detectors are effective only to a depth of about 30 centimeters, the backhoe was used to scrape the soil away layer by layer. That, the curator says, was not a particularly risky business. Archaeology, by definition, disrupts the soil. ‘But a machine does so absolutely no more than do excavations by hand.’ The collar insignia was found in this very way, in combination with a metal detector. The graves, however, were not. As one can read in Nolan's thesis.

Desfossés is a bit puzzled about all the fuss surrounding the York Spot. But then again: ‘Mastriano is a soldier. I believe the American military is in need of heroes, especially in light of the fact that the war in Iraq is not going quite the way they had hoped.’ Otherwise, however, Yves Desfossés could really care less. Alvin York was an American, not a Frenchman. ‘And if the members of the SYDE fail to see that they have destroyed a part of their own historical heritage, then that, of course, is their problem.’

For the time being, Desfossés has had enough of the whole affair. Using current archaeological methods, he feels, the York Spot cannot be pinpointed. Despite the care with which he went to work even Nolan was unable to satisfactorily locate the graves. The curator has therefore lowered a ban – at least temporarily - on further excavations, to safeguard any new finds for future research.
Meanwhile, the York Trail has been laid out. Proof positive, according to Douglas Mastriano, that the official French agencies endorse the SYDE's findings. Yves Desfossés, however, is not impressed. If there was anything like an official endorsement it did not come from his ministry. ‘At most from the mayor of a small village, who must of course be thrilled by the prospect of all those American tourists.’

But even Alain Rickal, mayor of Châtel-Chéhéry, is unwilling to make a statement about the precise location of the York Spot. Yes, his municipality did allow Mastriano to build the trail. But is that ‘the proof of the pudding’? In fact, Rickal says he is not interested in the final conclusion to the whole discussion. ‘That is strictly between the two teams. I have no idea who is right.’


OVERLOOKED


Douglas Mastriano did indeed continue to use a metal detector. In July of 2008 he was assisted in that by Brad Posey, a retired US Army staff sergeant. Posey is a fervent amateur archaeologist of long standing who lives, like Lt. Colonel Mastriano, in Germany. They came into contact through several auctions of WW I equipment and uniforms on an online auction site and the officer invited Posey to help search in the Argonne.

At first Posey found the lieutenant-colonel's report convincing, but began having doubts when new finds suddenly appeared at the SYDE's York Spot. ‘We uncovered a lot of artifacts they had missed, and some directly at the York Spot, like another .45 cartridge case and a fired .45 slug. The count of .45 casings is now over the 21 he states in his report.’ Posey points out that Mastriano has not updated his report, nor does he mention other important artifacts that were found at the York Spot and in the surrounding area. ‘In his report he only mentions and illustrates those artifacts that support his claim.’

Back home, Posey began studying the American sources, such as the Official History of the 82nd Division (York's unit), published in 1919. On the basis of that material he concluded that the York Spot must be in the valley southeast of where Mastriano was searching. But there was more: ‘It seemed that Lt. Colonel Mastriano totally ignored all of the U.S. accounts of the action, with the exceptions of a few phrases that fit his version of the story.’ The description given by Mastriano, Posey explains, states that York's gunfight took place on an eastern-facing slope, and that York attacked the German positions from the front. All the American sources, however, indicate that the fight actually took place on a western-facing slope, behind German lines. No mention of that, however, is found in the SYDE report.

The sergeant also emphasizes that, in his view, the SYDE has provided no concrete indications as to the exact configuration of the German regimental lines – the crucial bit of evidence, according to Mastriano. ‘Their report,’ Posey says, ‘does indeed include a long and impressive list of the German archives consulted, but that's all. Have you seen a proper annotation anywhere?’

Once again, those German files. Is that perhaps where the key to the mystery lies? To put an end to the controversy, Posey has now begun his own, independent study of the archives.


THE LAST WORD


Meanwhile, Douglas Mastriano is no longer available for comment and refuses to respond to Posey's criticisms. The telephone connection is broken, emails remain unanswered.

There is, therefore, only one course of action open to us: to contact the U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH). Historian Dr. Jeffrey Clarke, the Center's director, once wrote a letter expressing his admiration for the ‘convincing and well-crafted record of the SYDE's efforts and findings.’ That letter can be found on the SYDE website. Perhaps the CMH – ‘the Army's last word in history’ in Mastriano's words – can then explain the discrepancies hit upon by Brad Posey?

Several years ago, Lt. Col. Mastriano told Dr. Clarke about his plans to look for the York Spot. ‘He asked me for official support from the CMH, to demonstrate that he was not some troublemaker, but a person engaged in serious research.’ Clarke says he would provide such endorsement to anyone working in a scientific fashion. The only problem is: ‘There's no way to judge if the findings are correct. From the United States, that's not possible either.’

An interesting comment from someone whose words have been quoted as evidence in favor of the SYDE's conclusions. But had he actually read the report at the time? ‘Probably not,’ is his matter-of-fact reply. ‘I'm not interested that much.’ As manager of a large institute, he explains, he has too many other things on his mind.

Why then did he allow Mastriano to use his letter on the SYDE website? Dr. Clarke says he is unaware of any such use. ‘He did what he wanted to do. Maybe I made a mistake. There's no real way to find the exact spot.’ That letter, he adds, cannot be considered evidence either, seeing as the CMH was not present during the fieldwork. And describing research conclusions in terms of ‘100% accuracy’, as the SYDE has, is something he would never venture to do.

The director also knows nothing about the problems surrounding Army History, the magazine published by his institute that had planned to run contributions from both Thomas Nolan and Douglas Mastriano, but later backed out. He refers us instead to managing editor Dr. Charles Hendricks.

At first Hendricks is reluctant, and willing to comment only after a certain amount of urging. The crux of the matter, he says, is that Army History had run articles about the search for the York Spot before, and that there were so many other things to report about. That would be completely understandable, were it not for the fact that Nolan and Mastriano were actually approached and asked to write articles. Nolan says he does not understand why his article was never run. What happened to make Army History change its mind about publication? Dr. Hendricks, however, prefers not to comment.

An editor who veils himself in a cloak of silence, and a director who writes a letter commending a report whose conclusions he considers beforehand to be impossible. The CMH as ‘the Army's last word in history’? Dr. Clarke: ‘That would be nice, if the Center of Military History had the last word about anything.’


HOMAGE


Accusations back and forth. One group of researchers whose scientific expertise is up for discussion. A second group who could have avoided a lot of problems if it had looked through the German archive material itself. Two reports, two different York Spots. Separated by a couple of hundred meters of French soil. That may seem piddling when compared with a front hundreds of kilometers long and a war that cost millions of lives. But not when one realizes how lightly some of the players have dealt with the story of a national hero. Not when scientific principles are ignored and critical questions avoided.

On Saturday, 4 October 2008, Châtel-Chéhéry was the site of a tribute to Alvin York. After a memorial gathering in the village, the York Trail was officially opened. The highpoint of the day was the unveiling of the monument at the end of that trail: an orientation table with texts in English, French and German, paying homage to the sharpshooter from Tennessee. The guests included one of York's sons and a grandson. But were they led to the wrong spot? One thing is certain. It would be premature to assume that the debate is over. The pudding has not been proven; at best, only a few bites have been taken...

Sergeant York Discovery Expedition (SYDE): http://www.sgtyorkdiscovery.com
Sergeant York Project: http://sergeantyorkproject.com

Stephan van Meulebrouck is a Dutch historian and freelance journalist. His original Dutch-language article has been rendered into English by a prizewinning American translator, Sam Garrett, who has lived in Europe for many years.




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[Don D.]

Thanks for the update Brad.

[Brad Posey]

Here is the link to the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology article.

“Finding Sergeant York” starts on Page 18. It takes a minute or two to download.


http://www.cas.sc.edu/sciaa/legacy/legacy_v14n1.pdf



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[Brad Posey]

This is a slow and uphill struggle, but progress is being made.

Finally, Wikipedia has included an entry on their Alvin C. York article about the controversy and for the first time have included Dr. Nolan’s research. It is no longer a monopoly held by the Army officer led group. Click in this link and scroll down to “Site of Sergeant York’s Heroics”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York

On the “Discussion” page for this article there has been a lot of recent activity and a new chapter started entitled “Controversy: Battlefield Location”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Al...field_location

And another under “Combat Description – “Answer Part 3”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Al...at_description





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[Brad Posey]

I found this entry particuarly intersting. It is what a retired Army officer had to say about this controversy and the Wikipedia article:


"It needs to be brought to their attention that Dr. Nolan’s work was performed under the oversight of a doctoral dissertation committee and he successfully defended his findings to the committee. His work was done with utmost intellectual and unbiased research methodology. Dr. Nolan’s info would lend more credibility to Wikipedia's narrative than that of Colonel Mastriano."

"Peer reviews will start accepting Dr. Nolan’s findings since Colonel Mastriano’s writings did not meet rigorous research standards. In order to maintain their credibility, Wikipedia should emphasize Dr. Nolan’s work and treat Colonel Mastriano’s conclusion as a competing layman view of the York account."

"The importance of this is representatives of the French government are trying to promote the Argonne as a tourist WWI destination and have been "forced" to accept Colonel Mastriano. If Mastriano is accepted over Tom, then world wide visitors to the site are going to go away with a skewed historical account of what happened there. The French are caught in a dilemma as to finding a historically accurate solution to this issue without damaging French relations with the US Military."

"Wikipedia needs to understand that this is not a personality battle between Dr. Nolan and Colonel Mastriano and their respective supporters. And they need to understand that Mastriano, although first to publish, should not preempt Nolan. He could not rush his dissertation to be first. Mastriano, however, must have known about Dr. Nolan’s research and rushed his in order to get name recognition."




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[Brad Posey]

And, within the last few minutes, another Wikipedia "new addition"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Al...ocation.28s.29



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