See also: Audie Murphy legacy
Audie Leon Murphy (June 20, 1926 (?) – May 28, 1971) was a highly-decorated American soldier who served in the European Theater during World War II. He later became an actor, appearing in 39 American films, and also found some success as a country music composer.
In 27 months of combat action, Murphy became one of the most highly decorated United States soldiers of World War II. He received the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest award for valor, along with 32 additional U.S. and foreign medals and citations, including five from France and one from Belgium.
Murphy's successful movie career included the extremely popular To Hell and Back (1955), which was based on his book of the same name (1949). He also starred in an impressive 39 Hollywood films. He died in a plane crash in 1971 and was interred, with full military honors, in Arlington National Cemetery. Audie Murphy's grave site is the second-most visited grave at Arlington, after that of President John F. Kennedy.
Biography
Early life
He was born in Texas, to Emmett Berry and Josie Bell Murphy (née Killian) who was of Irish descent, poor sharecroppers, and grew up on farms between Farmersville and Greenville, as well as near Celeste, Texas (Hunt County). Murphy was the sixth of twelve children, nine of whom survived until the age of eighteen. His brothers and sisters included Corinne, Charles Emmett (Buck), Vernon, June, Oneta, J.W., Richard, Eugene, Nadine, Billie, and Joseph Murphy. He went to school in Celeste until the eighth grade, when he dropped out to help support his family (his father deserted them in 1936), working for a dollar a day, plowing and picking cotton on any farm that would hire him. He became very skilled with a rifle, hunting small game to help feed the family. One of his favorite hunting companions was neighbor Dial Henley. When he commented that Murphy never missed when he shot at squirrels, rabbits, and birds, Murphy replied, "Well, Dial, if I don't hit what I shoot at, my family won't eat today." During the 1930s Murphy worked at a combination general store/garage and filling station in Greenville, Texas. At fifteen he was working in a radio repair shop when his mother died on May 23, 1941. Later that year, in agreement with his older sister, Corrinne, Murphy was forced to place his three youngest siblings in an orphanage to ensure their care (he reclaimed them after World War II)
Enlistment
After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Murphy (then just 15 years old) tried to enlist in the military, but the services rejected him for being under age. In June 1942, shortly after his 16th birthday his sister Corrine adjusted his birth date so he appeared to be 18 and legally allowed to enlist, and his war memoirs, To Hell and Back , maintained this misinformation, leading to later confusion and contradictory statements as to his year of birth. Murphy was accepted into the United States Army, at Greenville, after being turned down by the Marines and the paratroopers for being too short (5 feet 5.5 inches (166.4 cm)) and of slight build. He was also turned down by the Navy for being slight of build. He was sent to Camp Wolters, Texas, for basic training and during a session of close order drill, passed out. His company commander tried to have him transferred to a cook and bakers' school because of his baby-faced youthfulness, but Murphy insisted on becoming a combat soldier. His wish was granted: after 13 weeks of basic training, he was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland for advanced infantry training.
Battles
Murphy still had to "fight the system" to get overseas and into combat. His persistence paid off, and in early 1943 he was shipped out to Casablanca, Morocco as a replacement in Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. Murphy saw no action in Africa, but instead participated in extensive training maneuvers along with the rest of the 3rd Division. His combat initiation finally came when he took part in the invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943. Shortly after arriving, Murphy was promoted to corporal after killing two Italian officers as they tried to escape on horseback. He contracted malaria while in Sicily, an illness which put him in the hospital several times during his Army years.
After Sicily was secured from the Axis forces, the 3rd Division invaded the Italian mainland, landing near Salerno in September 1943. While leading a night patrol, Murphy and his men ran into German soldiers but fought their way out of an ambush, taking cover in a rock quarry. The German command sent a squad of soldiers in, but they were stopped by intense machine-gun and rifle fire. Three German soldiers were killed and several others captured. As a result of his actions at Salerno, Murphy was promoted to sergeant.
Murphy distinguished himself in combat on many occasions while in Italy, fighting at the Volturno River, at the Anzio beachhead, and in the cold, wet Italian mountains. While in Italy, his skills as a combat infantryman earned him promotions and decorations for valor.
Following its participation in the Italian campaign, the 3rd Division landed in Southern France on August 15, 1944 as part of Operation Anvil-Dragoon. Shortly thereafter, Murphy's best friend, Lattie Tipton (referred to as "Brandon" in Murphy's book To Hell and Back ), was killed by a German soldier in a machine gun nest who was feigning surrender. Murphy went into a rage, and single-handedly wiped out the German machine gun crew which had just killed his friend. He then used the German machine gun and grenades to destroy several other nearby enemy positions. For this act, Murphy received the Distinguished Service Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor). During seven weeks of fighting in that campaign in France, Murphy's division suffered 4,500 casualties.
Just weeks later, he received two Silver Stars for further heroic actions. Murphy, by now a staff sergeant and holding the position of Platoon Sergeant, was eventually awarded a battlefield commission to second lieutenant, which elevated him to the Platoon Leader position. He was wounded in the hip by a sniper's ricocheting bullet 12 days after the promotion and spent ten weeks recuperating. Within days of returning to his unit, and still bandaged, he became company commander (January 25, 1945), and suffered further wounds from a mortar round which killed two others nearby.
The next day, January 26 (the temperature was 14 °F (−10 °C) with 24 inches (61 cm) of snow on the ground), the battle at Holtzwihr, (France) began with Murphy's unit at an effective strength of 19 out of 128. Murphy sent all of his men to the rear while he took pot-shots at the Germans until out of ammunition. He then proceeded to use an abandoned, burning tank destroyer's .50 caliber machine gun to cut into the German infantry at a distance, including one full squad of German infantry that had crawled in a ditch to within 100 feet of his position. Wounded in the leg during heavy fire, he continued this nearly single-handed battle for almost an hour. His focus on the battle before him stopped only when his telephone line to the artillery fire direction center was cut by either U.S. or German artillery. As his remaining men came forward, he quickly organized them to conduct a counter attack, which ultimately drove the enemy away from Holtzwihr. For these actions Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Murphy was then removed from the front lines and made a liaison officer; he was promoted to 1st lieutenant on February 22, 1945. On June 2, 1945, Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch, commander of the US Seventh Army, presented him with the Medal of Honor and Legion of Merit. The Legion of Merit was awarded for outstanding services with the 3rd Infantry Division during January 22, 1944 to February 18, 1945. On June 10, Murphy left Paris by plane, arriving in San Antonio, Texas four days later.
Audie Murphy received 33 US medals, plus five medals from France and one from Belgium. It has been said that he received every US medal available at the time; 5 of them awarded more than once.
His height and weight at his enlistment were 5 feet 5.5 inches (166.4 cm) and 110 pounds (50 kg); after his three year enlistment, they were 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) and 145 pounds (66 kg).
Medal of Honor citation
The official U.S. Army citation for Audie Murphy's Medal of Honor reads:
Awards and honors
Audie Murphy was credited with destroying six tanks in addition to killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing many others. His principal U.S. decorations included the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars with Valor device, and three Purple Hearts (all for genuine combat wounds). Murphy participated in campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany, as denoted by his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver battle star (denoting five campaigns), four bronze battle stars, plus a bronze arrowhead representing his two amphibious assault landings at Sicily and southern France. During the French Campaign, Murphy was awarded two Presidential Citations, one from the 3rd Inf, Division, and one from the 15th Inf. Regiment during the Holtzwihr action.
The French government awarded Murphy its highest aw
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