The Diary of Alvin York
MAY 21, 1918 LeHavre, France: So we got to France at Le Havre. There we turned in our guns and got British guns. Well, we went out from Le Havre to a little inland camp. I had taken a liking to my gun by this time. I had taken it apart and cleaned it enough to learn every piece and I could almost put it back together with my eyes shut. The Greeks and Italians were improving. They had stayed continuously on the rifle range for a month or two and got so they could shoot well. They were fairly good pals, too. But I missed the Tennesseans. I was the only mountaineer in the platoon. I didn't like the British guns so well. I don't think they were as accurate as our American rifles. Ho ho.
My buddies were some boys from the East. There was Corporal Murray Savage--he got killed in the Argonne-- and Harry Parsons from Brooklyn, New York. I think he was a vaudeville actor. And there were a lot of other Eastern boys who were in my platoon.
It sure was a mixed platoon, with the Greeks and Italians and New York Jews, and there were some Irish and one German. I sure did miss the mountain boys from Tennessee and Kentucky. But I got to like those other boys in my platoon. I was the largest in the platoon.
We got our first gas masks in Le Havre. I was still a private. The man in charge of my platoon was Lieutenant Stewart from Georgia. The company commander was Captain Danforth of Augusta, Georgia. Our platoon sergeants were Sergeant Early and Sergeant Harry Parsons.
Early was busted for being A.W.O.L. after we left Le Havre. After that he was acting corporal. He was a good soldier. Parsons was never busted. He was a good soldier, too. I was made a corporal just before we went into the St. Mihiel drive.
