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Lenny Kravitz’s Hero Uncle and Other Lesser Known American Heroes

Khalid Elhassan August 18, 2020 35 min

American Revolutionary War - United States — The British surrender at Yorktown. Library of Congress

22. Comparing Marcelino Serna to Alvin York

Sergeant Alvin C. York in 1919. Boise State Public Radio

America’s greatest hero of WWI, then-corporal Alvin York, had gone on a mission with 16 other men, and when they came under murderous fire, he went on a solo lethal rampage. By the time it was over, he had single-handedly killed 28 Germans and convinced dozens more to surrender. For that feat, York was deservedly awarded the Medal of Honor.

Private Marcelino Serna had gone off against the Germans not as part of a group, but on his own, and done pretty much what Corporal York had pulled off. With his daring, intrepidity, and skill at arms, Serna had killed 26 German soldiers, and captured an additional 24. On top of that, while escorting his prisoners back to friendly lines, an American sergeant directed him to execute the captives, to which Serna replied with an emphatic “cabrón! No!“

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.