I'm pretty sure I saw sgt York ... Isn't that where he was asked how he killed so many Germans , and his answer was he shot them like he used to shoot wild turkeys back home . When they got in a line he shot the last one first and then the second to last and so on ??? Lol I'm trying to remember !
But it was based on a true story ?
Yes, based on a true story, and yes he does that in the movie----Picks off the last Nazi in a row in a trench, one at a time. Even goes "gobble-gobble" to make the last one pop his head up & look!!!
Here's the plot:
[h2]Plot[/h2]
Alvin York (
Gary Cooper), a poor young
Tennessee hillbilly, is an exceptional marksman, but a ne'er-do-well prone to drinking and fighting, which doesn't make things any easier for his patient mother (
Margaret Wycherly). He changes when he meets Gracie Williams (
Joan Leslie), and works hard to become a good provider for her.
After he is struck by lightning during a late-night rainstorm he undergoes a religious awakening. York vows never to get angry at anyone ever again.
York tries to avoid induction into the Army for World War I as a
conscientious objector due to his religious beliefs, but gets drafted into the Army nonetheless. His status as a conscientious objector is rejected since his church has no official standing, and he reluctantly reports to Camp Gordon for
basic training. His superiors discover that he is a phenomenal marksman and decide to promote him to
corporal.
York still wants nothing to do with the Army and killing. Major Buxton (
Stanley Ridges), his sympathetic commanding officer, tries to change York's mind, citing sacrifices made by others all throughout the history of the United States. He gives York a leave to go home and think it over. He promises York a recommendation for his exemption as a conscientious objector if York remains unconvinced. While York is fasting and pondering, the wind blows his Bible open to the verse "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." York reports back for duty and tells his superiors that he can serve his country, despite not having everything figured out to his satisfaction, leaving the matter in
God's hands.
His unit is shipped out to Europe and participates in an attack during the
Meuse-Argonne Offensive on October 8, 1918. Pinned down by deadly machine gun fire, the lieutenant orders Sergeant Early (
Joe Sawyer) to take some men and try to attack the machine gun nests from behind. York suddenly finds himself the last remaining unwounded
non-commissioned officer in the detachment, and is placed in command by Early. Seeing his comrades being shot down all around him, his self-doubt disappears. He works his way to a position flanking the main enemy trench and shoots with such devastating effect that the Germans surrender. Then, York forces a captured officer (
Charles Esmond) at gunpoint to order the Germans still fighting in another section of the line to also surrender. He and the handful of other survivors end up with 132 prisoners. York becomes a national hero and is awarded the
Medal of Honor. When Major Buxton asks him why he did what he did, York explains that he was trying to save the lives of his men.
He returns to
Tennessee after a ticker tape parade and much celebration. The people of his home state have purchased for him the bottomland farm he wanted and paid for a house to be built on the land.