Audy Murphy- Thrillseeker or Idealist? Pt 3

Audy Murphy was born on the 20th of June 1924 and was the most decorated US Soldier in World War II.

To avoid a lengthy exposition of his exploits, please read his Medal of Honour citation:

Medal of Honor citation:

Below is the official U.S. Army citation for Audie Murphy's Medal of Honor:
Rank and organization:' Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division.

Place and date: Near Holtzwihr France, 26 January, 1945.
Entered service at: Dallas, Texas. Birth: Hunt County, near Kingston, Texas, G.O. No. 65, 9 August 1944.

Citation: Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry. Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire, which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German 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. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued his single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way back 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; he killed or wounded about 50. 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.

Impressive for some, but this was only one of several acts of bravery by this man.

Audie Leon Murphy was born in Celeste Texas, The sixth of twelve children grade. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade to work to support his family.Before his ninth birthday, he had become an expert with a .22-caliber rifle, hunting rabbits and squirrels to feed the family. This skill would serve him well during his later Army service. At twelve he worked as a farm hand, picking cotton at a dollar a day. In 1936, his father deserted the family and at sixteen, his mother died.

Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor at 17 he tried to enlist in the military in order to fight back, but he was rejected him because he was under 18 . Shortly after turning 18 in June 1942, he was finally accepted into the US Army, after first being turned down by the Marines and the paratroopers for being underweight and of slight build. He was sent to Camp Wolters Texas, for basic training. During a session of close order drill, he passed out. His company commander then tried to have him transferred to a cook and bakers' school because of his baby-faced youthfulness and apparent physical weaknesses, but Murphy insisted on becoming a combat soldier. His wish was granted; after thirteen weeks of basic training, he was sent to Fort Meade Texas for advanced infantry training.

In 1943 he was shipped out to Casablanca as part of the 3rd Infantry Division. He didn't see any action in Africa, but instead took part in training maneuvers alongside the rest of his Division. He first saw combat in the Sicily campaign in July 1943. Shortly after arriving there, he experienced his first encounter with death by killing two Italian officers as they tried to escape on horseback. Murphy contracted malaria while in Sicily, and this illness put him in the hospital several times during his Army years. After Sicily was secured from the Germans, the 3rd Division invaded the Italian mainland, landing near Salerno in September 1943. 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, desolate Italian mountains. While in Italy, his instinctive skills as a combat infantryman began to earn him promotions, increased responsibilities, and decorations for valor

Following its participation in the Italian campaign, the 3rd Division invaded Southern France on August 15, 1944. Shortly thereafter, Murphy's best friend, Lattie Tipton (referred to as "Brandon" in Murphy's book "To Hell and Back"), was killed while approaching some German troops feigning surrender. Murphy then went into a rage, and single-handedly wiped out the German machine gun crew which had just killed his friend. He used their gun to destroy several other nearby enemy positions. For this act he received the Distinguished Service Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor). Just weeks later, he received Silver Stars for two more 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 later wounded in the hip by a sniper's bullet, and spent three months recuperating. After returning to his unit, he led his men in many more battles, including one that would earn him the Medal of Honor near Holzwihr, France, in January 1945.

Audie Murphy was credited with killing over 240 German soldiers during World War II, plus wounding and capturing many others. By the end of the war he was a legend within the 3rd Infantry Division as a result of his heroism and battlefield leadership. His principal U.S. decorations included the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Star Medals, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Star Medals with Valor device, and three Purple Hearts (for the three wounds he received in combat). Murphy participated in many official 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. The French government awarded Murphy their highest award, the Legion of Honor (Grade of Chevalier). He also received two Croix de Guerre from France and one from Belgium. In addition, Murphy was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge (a complete list of Murphy's awards and decorations appears later in this article). Murphy spent 29 months overseas and just under two years in combat with the 3rd Infantry Division, all before he turned 21 years of age. In early June 1945, one month after Germany's surrender, Murphy returned from Europe to a hero's welcome in his home state of Texas, where he was showered with parades, banquets, and speeches. Murphy was discharged from active duty with the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in September 1945.

(Culled from Wikipedia).

After the war, Murphy embarked on an acting career through the encouragement of James Cagney and starred in a number of movie, notably "To Hell and Back" an adaptation of his wartime experience. He was to put it mildly- a crap actor, but his popularity was based mostly on his authentic blood and guts character, an endearing factor for the American people.

Murphy was however plagued by severe psychological and emotional torment stemming from his wartime experiences and would often slept with a loaded gun under his pillow. In simple terms, this was the age-old warrior's syndrome. A human killing machine, who had difficulties adjusting to civilian life. He was extremely uncomfortable with personal relationships and whilst part of Hollywood's social scene, readily admitted that his soul had dies on the Battlefield, where he had found- rather sadly his main fulfilment as a human being. Murphy in simple terms was the epitome of a natural born killer. The war provided him with an opportunity to legitimately exercise his skills, however when removed from that Theatre, he was awkward, desperately unhappy and a complete misfit. He suffered extensively from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder till his death.

His proficiency, bravery, patriotism and effectiveness as a soldier was undeniable, the War was the perfect setting for Murphy's skills and personality and where he was most comfortable. What then was his motivation- Idealism or the Thrills? Sadly I do not have the answer, this is a man for whom killing was first nature and who undertook it not necessarily with relish or with idealistic fervour but simple as an automatic response to his natural stimuli.

A hero? Maybe so, a killer definitely. The distinction is often irrelevant.