Equine hero Sergeant York to receive high honor

Sergeant York, who captured worldwide attention as the riderless horse at the 2004 funeral of former President Ronald Reagan, will be honored with the Distinguished Service Medal by the California-based organization Animals in War & Peace for his 25 years of service in the U.S. Army’s elite Caisson Platoon.

The medal will be presented at an official ceremony on Capitol Hill. A documentary about his life and military career including a segment filmed earlier this year of Sergeant York wearing his medal will be shown.

Health issues will prevent Sergeant York, 31, from leaving his home at the Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary in Chatham and attending the Washington ceremony in person. He received the medal in a small ceremony held recently at the sanctuary.

“He won’t be physically there because of his health and age,” Equine Advocates Communications Director Alex Valverde said Tuesday. “We didn’t want to transport him to Washington for the official ceremony because we thought it would not be safe for him.”

For the staff of Equine Advocates, they feel honored to have an equine veteran of Sergeant York’s celebrity and durability boarded in Columbia County.

“We have been so honored just to have Sergeant York be with us at our sanctuary,” Valverde said. “He’s a part of American history, and that means a lot to all of us.”

A standardbred and former New Jersey racehorse who ran under the name Allaboard Jules, Sergeant York was born in New York State on April 25, 1991, and came to live at the Chatham sanctuary in June 2022, where he will spend the rest of his life, said Equine Advocates President Susan Wagner, who is in Washington for the ceremony.

“It’s a great honor for us to have Sergeant York retired at our sanctuary,” Wagner said Tuesday. “He’s a wonderful horse and we’re thrilled for the public to learn more about the lives of military working horses.”

Sergeant York is the second Caisson Platoon horse to be retired at the sanctuary, Wagner said. In 2021, the sanctuary welcomed Tyler, a gray quarterhorse.

The riderless horse symbolizes an officer’s final ride in battle.

“We’re so proud to award Sergeant York with the Distinguished Service Medal,” Animals in War & Peace President Robin Hutton said Tuesday. “He’s the first and only horse to receive it, and he could not be more deserving.”

In 1997, equestrienne and New Jersey Racing Commission staffer Marie Dobrisky and her son Frank, a member of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment Caisson Platoon, arranged for the donation of the racehorse to the Army and his training for military service. Allaboard Jules was renamed Sergeant York in honor of Sgt. Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War I and the subject of a classic war film portrayed by Gary Cooper.

Sergeant York was an ideal choice for Caisson Platoon, Wagner said. He is jet black, fitting for the platoon’s black team, and he has the right temperament to stand up under the rigorous demands of military ceremony.

“Horses in the Caisson Platoon have to be unflappable and calm because rifles are being fired in salutes all around them,” Wagner said. “Cannons were being fired at President Reagan’s funeral and a caisson horse can’t run or bolt. Sergeant York was that horse — steady and poised.”

In many cases, military families are eager to adopt Caisson Platoon horses removed from active duty, but for Sergeant York, Equine Advocates was destined to be his forever home.

“We’re a rescue organization, but this house will serve as Sergeant York’s retirement home,” Wagner said. “This is our way of thanking him for his service.”

Equine Advocates stables 80 horses, but only two are caisson horses — Sergeant York and Tyler, the quarterhorse who served with the Caisson Platoon’s gray team. Unlike Sergeant York, Tyler always had a rider, Wagner said. Tyler, like Sergeant York, is beloved by veterans for his presence at the funerals of presidents, generals and soldiers.

The public is invited to view the ceremony Wednesday on one of three channels: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbBm6SZ235HFxwVKC7Po5IA/

News2Share or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/N2Sreports or Twitter: https://twitter.com/FordFischer. The ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m.

As unthinkable as it seems, Equine Advocates is bracing for life without Sergeant York. After his death, Sergeant York will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia with full military honors and laid to rest next to Black Jack, the riderless horse in President John F. Kennedy’s funeral procession.