Military Officer - January 2007 - (Page 77)

pagesofhistory Searching for York An expedition team has found evidence that could mark the location where World War I Army Sgt. Alvin York demonstrated his heroism versus German troops. N ineteen .45-caliber cartridges, discovered on a battleﬁeld in northeastern France, are believed to identify the spot where Army Sgt. Alvin York became a celebrated World War I hero. The Sergeant York Discovery Expedition, led by Army Lt. Col. Douglas Mastriano, found the cartridges buried near the village of Chatel-Chehery, where York single-handedly took out a nest of 35 machine guns. York, then a corporal in the 82nd Division, captured 132 German soldiers and killed at least 20 others, receiving the Medal of Honor for his heroism. The team cites American military documents stating that York had ﬁred at least 21 .45-caliber rounds with an automatic Colt pistol in his Oct. 8, 1918, assault on the German position. But another group, led by academics from York’s home state of Tennessee, claimed in March 2006 to have found the York spot at a different location. ence Nightingale,” ﬂew 425 combat evacuation missions, including many in Normandy during D-Day. Keil served as a ﬂight nurse during World War II and the Korean War and was awarded four Air Medals, two Presidential Unit Citations, a World War II Victory Medal, four World War II battle stars, and seven Korean War battle stars. In October 2006, ofﬁcials dedicated the Lillian Kinkella Keil Post Ofﬁce in Covina, Calif. The ceremony was attended by members of veterans’ groups and family members of Keil, who died in June 2005 at the age of 88. O Female Veteran Honored ne of the most decorated female veterans in U.S. history has been honored by having a California post ofﬁce named after her. Lillian Keil, nicknamed the “Airborne FlorTHIS MONTH IN HISTORY ■ On Jan. 27, 1967, tragedy struck during a T Museum Adds Fighter he National Museum of the U.S. Air Force has a new ﬁghter on display: the British Bristol Beauﬁghter. During World War II, the aircraft ﬁlled the need for an effective night ﬁghter in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) until an American aircraft could be produced. The Mediterranean-based 12th Air Force received more than 100 Beauﬁghters in 1943, helping it achieve night victories. Although the American P-61 Black Widow night ﬁghters were built to replace them in December 1944, USAAF Beauﬁghters continued to ﬂy night cover for Allied forces until the closing days of the war. MO JANUARY 2007 Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Alvin York, photographed in 1919, was a farmer in Tennessee before he was drafted. NASA preflight test at Cape Kennedy, Fla. Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire that swept through the command module of their Gemini spacecraft. PHOTO: U.S. ARMY/AP MILITARY OFFICER 77

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - January 2007

Military Officer - January 2007 Contents From the Editor From the Chairman Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: Osprey Rising? Battlefields of the Great War I Resolve ... New Mission Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Scholarship Donors MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Member Books Encore

Military Officer - January 2007

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