Petty Officer 2nd Class
Navy
William E. York was raised on a farm in a small, coal-mining town in south Indiana. He left home at 14 and moved to Indianapolis where he served in a
number of menial jobs. Eventually, he got tired of these trivial jobs and enlisted in the Navy where he served as a Petty Officer Second Class in the
Mediterranean. Mr. York recalls getting caught in an intense firefight on the water, explains his role in the Salerno invasion, and describes the pain of losing his brother in the Battle of the Bulge.