Private & Corporal York
Lee County Cousins killed in the Great War

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Massive matching headstones in the Giddings Cemetery mark the graves of these two Lee County cousins. Both died in France in the very last days of WWI. Within a short distance are the graves of at least two other Lee County soldiers. A photo found in A History of Lee County by the Lee County Historical Survey Committee shows 54 volunteers from Lee County posing on the steps of the courthouse in 1917.

We found that the York family of Giddings / Dime Box moved to Texas from Tennessee around 1830. It is possible that these two men are distantly related to Sgt. Alvin York, America's most decorated hero from World War I.

The York family takes up a sizable portion of the index of the Lee County history.

The York Cousins Tombstones
TE photo, 2000

Randall L. York was born in Giddings in 1889. He enlisted in the Army and was sent to Company "G", 9th Infantry. He was wounded July 18th of 1918 and returned to duty on August 16th. It's probable that his promotion to corporal came as a result of the actions that brought about his first wound.

According to his tombstone, he "received his mortal wound" on October 8th, 1918, and died later that day. It was just 34 days short of the end of the war.

His cousin Asa C. York ... next page