Unraveling the Myth of Sgt. Alvin York, James P. Gregory Jr.

[lostinspace]

This book came out at the end of 2022 and has created a bit of a firestorm around the author. I just happened to come across a video of Mr. Gregory explaining how he came to write it. 

 

[Crunchy]

Many thanks for the link. It demonstrates the value of going back to the primary sources, and just how many myths there are woven through history.

[other ranker]

Just sat and watched this. I watched the Cooper film last year and thought it was quite a tale! Gregory certainly has put the miles in.

[lostinspace]

Thanks for the comments. Gregory mentioned in one of his videos that he will release all of the documents held by the families involved, plus relevant information from the German Archives soon.
I admire his grit, he had to know that these new details concerning the "York Patrol" would stir up a hornet's nest.

Regards,

Dave

[Moonraker]

Interesting video, thanks for posting. It's some years since I watched the Gary Cooper movie, but I recall that I never found his mass capture of German soldiers very convincing.

[lostinspace]

Oddly enough, a book was published about twelve years ago called "From Anzac Cove to Hollywood: the Story of Tom Skeyhill, Master of Deception" that sheds some light on the author of York's first biography. I haven't read Jeff Brownrigg's book so can't really say if all the information about Skeyhill is accurate, but the reviews that I could locate were generally favorable. 
Here is a link to one of them from "The West Australian", 20 September,2010: https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/arts-reviews/book-review-anzac-cove-to-hollywood-ng-ya-197805
Tom Skeyhill wrote "Sergeant York: His Own Life Story and War Diary" which was published in 1928, and was the only version actually authorized by Alvin York. The movie of 1941 was based on it. According to the Wikipedia blurb, the only reason that York approved the film was to "finance the creation of an interdenominational Bible school."