With eight
men, not twenty yards away, charging him with bayonets, he calmly
decided to shoot the last man first, and to continue this policy in
selecting his mark, so that those remaining would "not see their
comrades falling and in panic stop and fire a volley at him."
Military critics analyzing the tactics York used in this fight have been
able to find no superior way for removing the menace of the German
machine guns that were over the crest of the hill and between him and
his regiment, than to form the prisoners he had captured in a column,
put the officers in front and march directly to each machine gun-nest,
compelling the German officers to order the gunners to surrender and to
take their place in line.
Calm and self-controlled, with hair of copper-red and face and neck
browned and furrowed by the sun and mountain winds, enured to hardships
and ready for them, this young mountaineer moved among his new-found
companions at Camp Gordon. Reticent he seemed, but his answer to an
inquiry was direct, and his quiet blue-eyes never shifted from the eyes
of the man who addressed him. As friendships were formed, his moods were
noted by his comrades. At times he was playful as a boy, using
cautiously, even gently, the strength he possessed. Then again he would
remain, in the midst of the sports, thoughtful, and as tho he were
troubled.
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