Audie L. Murphy
United States Army, WWII
Audie Murphy was born June 20, 1924 in Hunt County, Texas. At age seventeen, the baby faced, physically slight Murphy tried to enlist in the military but was told to come back when he turned eighteen.
Having reached the required age, the 5 foot 5 inch, 110 pound Murphy was turned down by the Marines and rejected as a paratrooper because of his slight build. In June 1942 he was finally accepted by the United States Army.
On January 26, 1945 near Holtzwihr France, Second Lieutenant Audie Murphy’s hard hit 128 man unit had been whittled down to 19 men. Attacked by six tanks and swarming infantry, Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to wooded positions while remaining forward at his command post where he continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone.
Lt. Murphy fired at approaching enemy troops until running out of ammunition. To his right, an Army tank received a direct hit and began to burn, its crew withdrawing to the woods. With enemy tanks abreast of his position, Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank, in danger of blowing up at any moment, turning its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to fire from three sides but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate
Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. Ignoring a leg wound he continued the single-handed fight until, once again, his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy, killing or wounding about 50 Germans. Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.
Second Lieutenant Audie Murphy received the Medal of Honor on August 9, 1945. His 27 months of service resulted in 33 medals for bravery and service.
In 1948 Murphy began an acting career that spanned 21 years and included the autobiographical To Hell and Back, released in 1955. Audie Murphy was killed May 28, 1971 in a Memorial Day weekend plane crash. He was 46 years old. Murphy is buried in section 46 at Arlington National Cemetery.
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