Newswise — More than 1,400 artifacts from the World War I battlefield in Chatel-Cherey, France, where Sgt. Alvin York earned the Congressional Medal of Honor were unearthed during a Nov. 12-26, 2006, expedition led by geographer Tom Nolan of MTSU's geosciences faculty and Michael Birdwell of Tennessee Tech University's history faculty.
Researchers Nolan and Birdwell will formally announce the news of their historic find, which has been the subject of much speculation and prior searches since York's Oct. 8, 1918, victory, during a media-only press conference at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 8, in the R.O. Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology, which is located in Room 302 of MTSU's Kirksey Old Main (KOM) building.
During the press conferences, the researchers will deliver a brief introduction to their York-related research, followed by a question-and-answer session for those in attendance. Additionally, some of the recently discovered artifacts from the York battlefield—from German gas masks and mess kits to collar insignia and grenades—will be on display for media to photograph for editorial use. The researchers' recent trip confirms the precise locale of York's heroic battle, where the Pall Mall, Tenn., native is credited with single-handedly capturing more than 100 German soldiers in one of the U.S. military's most storied exploits.
The November research expedition was the local researchers' second sojourn to France this year in search of the precise locale of York's historic victory. During the prior trip, the researchers returned with the news that they were "80 percent" certain they had located the site, but additional research and work were needed. However, their latest trip marks the confirmation that Nolan and Birdwell were correct in their research to locate the site.
At the Dec. 8 conference, the now-embargoed press release will be made available, as will a map of the battlefield location created by researcher Nolan.
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