Walter Elmer York was born on 16 July 1918, Fentress County, Tennessee, the son of Jessie Francis York and Margaret “Maggie” Angline Crisp. Second Cousing of World War I hero Alvin Calvin York.
Walter E. York was killed in action on Ship USS LST-158 off shore of Red Beach, Licata, Sicily on 11 July 1943. After being bombed by a German aerial bomb on July 11, 1943. USS LST-158 earned two battle stars for WW II service. On report of burial from Division of Army cause of death is listed: Burned, his name tag was found on his body.
He is buried at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy, D, 12, 1943.
The Atlanta Constitution, January 4, 1941
Walter Elmer York, a cousin of Sergeant Alvin C. York, was inducted into the regular army yesterday at Fort McPherson for a three-year enlistment. A sophomore in high school at Jamestown, Tenn., the 22-year-old youth said he wanted to enlist “rather than be drafted” and said he was encouraged by his family to join the army at this time. He knows his famous cousin “just well enough to recognize him on sight.” The former Sergeant, described as the “perfect civilian soldier,” operated an agricultural school near Jamestown. Like the World War hero, young York likes to hunt and has done so often with both rifle and shotgun. He says he is not a very good shot, but recalled that his cousin attributed his marksmanship to experience in “shooting partridges back in Tennessee.” He will be a mechanic in the field artillery of the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Benning. Sergeant York was an infantryman. Walter York says he has “large numbers of kinfolk” in and around Jamestown and believes that others are in the army now. Fort McPherson officers recalled at least one other York from that section of Tennessee who was sworn in here.
- Rank: Technician 5th Class
- Date of birth: 16 July 1918
- Date of death: 11 July 1943
- County: Fentress
- Hometown: Jamestown
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 41st Infantry Battalion, 2nd Armored Division
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy
- Location In Memorial: Pillar IX, Top Panel
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