Audie Murphy

Dates


Born June 20, 1924 in Kingston, Texas.
Died May 28, 1971 in Virginia.

Audie Leon Murphy was the most decorated combat soldier of World
War II. Murphy earned 24 citations, including awards from Belgium,
France, and the Medal of Honor.

Murphy enlisted in the United States Army on June 30, 1942, at
Dallas. After basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas, Murphy joined
the 385th infantry at Fort Meade, Maryland. On February 8, 1943,
Murphy was sent to Europe. Murphy accepted a combat commission
to second lieutenant on October 14, 1944.

On
August 15, 1944, Staff Sergeant Murphy landed near Ramatuelle,
France with the first wave of troops. When his men were stopped
by heavy machine gun and small-arms fire from a hill, Murphy advanced
alone killing six Germans, wounding three, and capturing five.

On
January 26, 1945, Murphy was commanding Company B of the 15th
Infantry, 3rd Division near Holtzwiher, France. Murphy’s company
was attacked by six tanks and several waves of infantry. Murphy
ordered his men to withdraw to positions in the woods, while he
remained forward, directed artillery fire by telephone. Behind
him, a tank destroyer took a direct hit and started burning.

With
enemy tanks around him, Murphy climbed onto the burning tank destroyer
(which was in danger of exploding at any moment) and fired its
.50 caliber machine gun at the Germans. Murphy killed dozens of
enemy infantry, causing their attack to falter. The Germans made
every attempt to eliminate Murphy, some approaching as close as
10 yards before being wiped out by the machine gun.

Murphy
sustained a leg wound, but continued fighting until the ammunition
ran out. Murphy withdrew to his company, refused medical attention,
and led a counterattack that forced the German to withdraw. For
this action, Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor on August 9,
1945.

After
returning to the United States, Murphy was contacted by James
Cagney due to his appearance on the cover of Life Magazine. Cagney
provided acting training, and his career took off after the publication
of his best-selling autobiography, To Hell and Back.

Murphy
starred in 27 movies, including playing himself in the film version
of To Hell and Back. Murphy died in an airplane accident in 1971
and is buried in Arlington National Cemetary.