Read The Yanks Are Coming! Online
Authors: III H. W. Crocker
The Yanks Are Coming!
PRAISE FOR
The Yanks Are Coming!
“A rousing military history of an older, and in some ways better, America. The pen portraits of America's heroes in the First World Warâwhose fame in many cases extends beyond, like Patton, MacArthur, and Trumanâare terrific!”
           Â
âWilliam Peter Blatty, Academy Awardâwinning screenwriter and bestselling novelist, author of
The Exorcist,
and co-screenwriter (with Blake Edwards) of the World War I comedy-drama
Darling Lili
“Harry Crocker presents a very readable, lively, and historically rich account of America's involvement in World War One, from strategic-level power politics to the blood and grime of the trenches. The war narrative is complemented with short, incisive biographies of prominent leadersâPershing, Mitchell, and Lejeune, among othersâand the âYoung Lions' such as George Patton, Eddie Rickenbacker, Alvin York, and âWild Bill' Donovan. This is an outstanding and enjoyable volume for both seasoned military history buffs and readers who want to know more about the dramatic events that were shaping our present day a century ago.”
           Â
âJames S. Robbins, author of
The Real Custer
“A brilliant book. Crocker is the absolute master at creating readable historyâand on few subjects is his clarity more needed than on America's involvement in World War I, helping readers to understand and appreciate our commitment and sacrifice.
The Yanks Are Coming!
is a great bookâhighly recommended for anyone interested in American military history.”
           Â
âPhillip Jennings, former Marine Corps combat pilot and author of
Nam-A-Rama
and
The Politically Incorrect Guide⢠to the Vietnam War
“A great story has met a great writer! Historian Harry Crocker skillfully records the important but often overlooked story of America's pivotal role in winning World War I. Peopled by a fascinating historical cast of characters,
The Yanks Are Coming!
puts the reader on the front lines with the American doughboys with a you-are-there sense of immediacy. It is a memorable story of American courage and sacrifice, and the author's insightful, fast-paced narrative enlivens it anew. First-rate!”
           Â
âRod Gragg, author of
The Illustrated Gettysburg Reader
and
The Pilgrim Chronicles
“Harry Crocker has tackled one of the most perplexing major wars of modern history, untangling the confusion to deliver a narrative that is not only easy to follow, but a joy to read. Unlike so many histories of the Great War, which draw readers into the snarl of the war's complexity, Crocker's unwinds the sinews, laying them out in plain sight. It is a rare book that can be truly described as hard to put down. If a person was to read just one book about the Great War, there is no better one than this.”
           Â
âBill Yenne, author of
Hap Arnold: The General Who Invented the U.S. Air Force
and a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars
Copyright © 2014 by H. W. Crocker III
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, or broadcast.
First ebook edition ©2014
eISBN 978-1-62157-279-4
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crocker, H. W.
The Yanks are coming : a military history of the United States in World War I / H. W. Crocker III.
pages cm
1. World War, 1914-1918--United States. 2. United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces. 3. World War, 1914-1918--Biography. I. Title.
D570.C68 2014
940.4'0973--dc23
2014011621
Published in the United States by
Regnery History, an imprint of
Regnery Publishing
A Salem Communications Company
300 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
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Distributed to the trade by
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New York, NY 10107
For the VMI Keydets, class of '17
and
Scott E. Belliveau, class of '83
CONTENTS
“Well, York, I Hear You've Captured the Whole Damn German Army”
Belleau Wood: “Retreat, Hell. We Just Got Here!”
Château-Thierry, “the Rock of the Marne,” and Soissons
Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
John J. Pershing (1860â1948)
Douglas MacArthur (1880â1964)
George S. Patton (1885â1945)
George C. Marshall (1880â1959)
Eddie Rickenbacker (1890â1973)
Francis P. Duffy (1871â1932) and Alvin C. York (1887â1964)
William J. Donovan (1883â1959)
“WELL, YORK, I HEAR YOU'VE CAPTURED THE WHOLE DAMN GERMAN ARMY”
I
t was cold, wet, and drearyâ8 October 1918âthe Meuse-Argonne Campaign. A miasmic mist drifted through the early morning sky from exploded artillery shells and gas canisters; men clung to clumps of damp earth as bullets spat toward them from sporadic machine gun and rifle fire. On the far left of the American line was squad leader Sergeant Alvin York. In the course of his thirty years, York had grown from a sharpshooting, hard-drinking mountain brawler into a Christian pacifist, and then, once he was drafted, into a Christian soldier. He wasn't an educated man or a cosmopolitan oneâhe'd had a hard time taking his eyes off the French-speaking Vietnamese truck drivers (“Chinamen,” he called them)
who had rocketed him to the front, driving like drunken fiendsâbut he had superb instincts in the field.
The Germans had a well-earned reputation for being tenacious, superb infantrymen, but it was one of the virtues of the Americans that they weren't much impressed by reputations. The Germans were entrenched on forested high ground around a valley, about five hundred yards long, that the Americans were trying to cross, having taken Hill 223 at the opening of the arc the night before. If the Germans were battle wearyâintelligence reports promised that the units in front of the Americans were of low caliber, their morale used upâthey were still in an excellent position to hit the Americans on three sides; in fact, the advanced American platoons were already pinned down, fenced in by German mortar and machine gun fire.
York's company on the far left of the American line was moving in support of the trapped units. Sergeant Harry M. Parsons sent three squads, including York's, a total of about seventeen men, on what he feared was a suicide mission: flank the German machine guns enfilading the American platoons.