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Today's Tennessean published an article describing the work of two Professors, Michael Birdwell and Tom Nolan, in locating the exact site of Sgt. Alvin York's WWI heroics, for which he won the medal of honor. Here's a diary, written by Alvin York, describing his activities (and his complete faith in God).

The article describes the finding of a "collar disk", a button so to speak...

"It" was a collar disk, a piece of metal a little larger than a nickel. The object, part of a World War I American soldier's uniform, was stamped with the number "328" and the letter "G," which stands for York's regiment and company, respectively.

Well, almost immediately, there was some dissent. In the story chat that follows the article, a commentor (who has some physical evidence (21 .45 ACP shell casings) found some 600 meters from the 'button'.

Here's the entire rebuttal post from Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Mastriano:

The claim by Michael Birdwell and Tom Nolan that they found the spot where York earned the Medal of Honor is 100% wrong. Their declaration is not supported by battlefield archeology, German archival data, military doctrine or terrain analysis and most importantly, the Germans that York fought / captured were never there. There is NO possible way that Alvin York earned the Medal of Honor in the location where they claim. It is impossible.

No research in the German Archives in Stuttgart, Freiburg, Potsdam, Ulm or Bavaria
The biggest obstacle that Birdwell and Nolan face is that they did not spend a single day in the German archives, where the most important York related documents are. They are missing at least 100 essential documents. Because of this, they went into the Argonne with only half of the story and ended up in the wrong valley, finding artifacts from a different battle, a battle that York, and the Germans he fought, did not participate in. This claim is rife with numerous other problems and is not helped by the simple fact that the core of their team has no military experience. A trained military eye can see that their claim is not logical from a tactical point of view.

The Germans that York captured were never there
The site could not be the spot for the simple reason that the Germans York captured - were NEVER there. The empirical/hard evidence confirms this - that York fought and captured soldiers from the German 125th and 120th Württemberg Regiments and the 210th Prussian. There is only one spot in the entire Argonne Forest where these three units overlapped – and it is actually 600 meters away from the Birdwell/ Nolan claim. The location where Birdwell asserts as the York spot is the flank of the German 122nd Regiment. York captured NO 122nd soldiers and he never fought there. What Birdwell uncovered is a different fight altogether that transpired as the German right flank collapsed AS A RESULT of York's actions - several hours later.

The picture does not add up
In January 1919, just three after York performed his heroic deed, the 82nd Infantry Division conducted a formal investigation into the York story in order to see if he deserved the Medal of Honor. As part of the investigation, photographs were taken. The spot selected by Birdwell / Nolan does not look like the 1919 photos at all. Further evidence that they are in the wrong place.

Finding the right York spot
So, what about the York spot – where is it? A group of military officers, veterans, researchers, family members and battlefield archeologists, calling themselves The Sergeant York Discovery Expedition (SYDE), came together to solve this mystery. After years of painstaking research and nearly 40 days searching in the Argonne Forest near Châtel Chéhéry, France – the exact location where Alvin York fought off the determined attacks of the German Imperial Army was discovered with 100% certainty.

The search began in the archives - over 700 hours researching every detail of the York story in the German and American archives. This proved crucial and put my group in the general area of where York earned the Medal of Honor. In fact – there is only one possible 100-meter area in the entire Argonne Forest where this event could have happened. It was in this area that we began nearly 1,000 man-hours of physical searching for evidence of York’s Medal of Honor.

Each day of investigation uncovered a piece of the York story. The biggest find occurred on Saturday 21 October 2006, when nineteen of the twenty-one .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) cartridges fired by York were discovered. This was the final piece of the puzzle that was needed to designate the “York spot.” It was here that York fought off a German bayonet attack led by Lieutenant Fritz Endriss and forced the final surrender of the right flank of the 125th Württemberg Landwehr Regiment. The fact that York fired at least 21 Colt .45 ACPs is recorded in the History of the 82nd Division A.E.F., published in 1919, which states; “[York] fired… three complete clips from his automatic pistol.” These clips contained seven rounds each. The nineteen recovered .45 cartridges were spread over a ten-foot wide area and were between 2-4 inches deep in the Argonne earth. A few days later, we recovered the twentieth and twenty-first cartridges (#20 in front of the mayors of Châtel Chéhéry and Fléville). The bottom line, the search for the York spot is over.

Although finding the .45 finds was the “piece de résistance,” we also unearthed thousands of other pieces of evidence that tell the York story. These include American 30.06 shell casings, 250 German machine gun shell casings, 100 live German rifle rounds - most in five round clips, several Württemberg and Prussian buttons, 25 German equipment buttons / loops, pieces of German belts / web-gear and evidence of a German battalion HQ building.

The evidence is overwhelming. The battlefield archeology and the German and American first hand sources confirm that York did what he was awarded the Medal of Honor for. This will silence the revisionists and perpetuate the York legacy for another generation. In the meantime, we are working closely with the local French officials and the American Battlefield Monuments Commission to create a historic trail to ensure that what the great Christian Patriot York did is not forgotten or subjected to unwarranted second-guessing in the future.

Finally - in order to pass the test - the York spot must have an affirmative on the following screening criteria - a NO to any of these means that the site is wrong.

*Does it agree with historical facts about German units involved and unit defense locations?

*Is it along the right flank of the German 125 and 120 Regiments?

*Does the terrain match photographs taken in 1919?

*Is it supported by battlefield archeology?

*Is it close to the 1/120 regiment battlefront?

*Is it logical from a tactical military perspective?

*Does it agrees with written German and American testimony?

*Is it located where the machine guns are in the fight - engaging Americans in the valley?

*Is it on terrain that dramatically impacted the outcome of the battle (decisive terrain)?

*Does it agree with the battle progression/sequence as recorded by the 2nd Landwehr Division?

*Is it close to a trench (York's and Vollmer's testimony)?

*Is it near two roads that head east - out of the Argonne?

*Is it close to Vollmer's HQ?

Sadly for the Birdwell / Nolan team – they have a resounding NO on most of the above. However, what we found is an unambiguous/resounding yes to all of these. I am 100% confidant of this as there is little room for error when you measure our hard evidence. This is a slam-dunk. In the end, the search for the York spot is not about Birdwell, or Mastriano. It is about the truth and honoring the legacy of Alvin York. The search for the historically accurate York spot ended in October.

Questions –

The 1919 82nd Infantry Division History states that York fired three complete clips from his Colt .45 for a total of 21 cartridges. Why didn’t Dr. Birdwell find the 21 cartridges, while Mastriano did?

Both the German and American eyewitnesses mention a trench from which German Lieutenant Endriss led a bayonet attack against York. Where is this trench?

What does Dr. Birdwell think about the trench at the location where Mastriano found near the site of the 21 Colt .45 cartridges?

After York captured the 132 German soldiers, the German center/right flank collapsed. The 2nd Landwehr Division’s commander, General Franke, ordered the 122 Landwehr Regiment forward to cover the retreat of the 2nd and 3rd battalion. How does Dr. Birdwell explain that the spot is correct, but York did not capture any 122nd soldiers?

In January 1919, the 82nd Infantry Division conducted an investigation of York’s actions. The photos that were taken of where York earned the Medal of Honor do not match the site. How does Dr. Birdwell explain this?

How can Dr. Birdwell make a 100% claim of certainty when he has not visited the German archives in Potsdam, Stuttgart, Ulm, Munich or Freiburg when these are the only places where one can find vital York related documents
(that has information on where the German units were)?

The majority of the prisoners that York captured came from the 120th, 125th and 210th regiments. The only place where these all served together is 600 meters away on the hill called Humserberg (the center hill) from Dr. Birdwell’s claimed spot. How does he explain this?

Many of the artifacts that Dr. Birdwell is displaying are French light Chauchat machine gun bullets (called the sho-sho by the Americans - the short fat rounds). None of the 16 Americans with York on 8 October 1918 had this weapon. Does this actually disprove Dr. Birdwell’s supposition?

Give or take 600 meters, the site is pretty much found. If these are actually the 21 shell casings from Sgt. York's trusty .45, then those would IMHO trump the button found by Profs. Birdwell and Nolan...

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