Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Audie Murphy

Just watched To Hell and Back, the supposedly accurate movie about Audie Murphy's exploits in World War Two. His postwar string of very forgettable Westerns makes it easy to forget or to belittle the more important aspects of his life �

� Had to quit school when he was 12 to support a dying mother and to "father and mother" his four younger siblings.
� Turned down by the Marines and the Navy, he joined the Army � the infantry � when he was 16.
� Was commissioned lieutenant while he was still in his teens.
� Won every medal that he was eligible for � including the Medal of Honor � before he was 19.
� Was selected to go to the military academy at West Point, but battle wounds made him ineligible.

If only half the above is fact �

I love that movie.........has was a brave soul.

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4aYg3YRniWk[/video]


Medal of Honor Citation: 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d 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, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d 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 3 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 2d 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 the single-handed fight until 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; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d 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.

Very respectable man he was, I have heard that he was very
troubled in his final years, nightmares, drinking, etc.

I've always wondered if his acting provided for him. Sure hope so, he certainly earned it.

'Nother thing, did he ever have children?

Wikipiedia. Supports it. Had a grandpa said he served with him, but I can't verify that cause he died when I was pretty young. I do remember that every time he watched that movie he would start crying. Always said audie was the toughest man a kid has ever had to be.

WOuld seem the post WWII army didn't care much for mustangs if a MOH winner couldn't get in the academy regardless of old wounds.

I've been through that dead-ass area of Texas around Celeste where he was a boy...it was probably pretty tough during those times and under his particular circumstances. He was an exceptional individual...showed a lot of bravery under fire. I heard that he killed well over a hundred men in battle. It was a damn shame that he was killed in a plane crash without being able to live to be an old man.

He wrote the song 'Shutters and Boards' as sung by Jerry Wallace
[video:youtube]shutters and boards jerry wallace[/video]

Yep,its true. He was all of that. Some say that it wasnt tank shrapnel that got him, he just plain got shot in the azz geting away from it(the tank). Also some say that it was his lack of a high school diploma kept him out of the Point. Good Movie.

Swifty

Thanks, I couldn't get it to display properly.

Audie Leon Murphy grew up in Grapvevine, Texas. I've stood at his gravesite several times these past few years. It's only a short distance from the Tomb of the Unknown!

http://www.audiemurphy.com/

I once watched an interview he gave to a journalist I can't recall and Murphy made the comment when asked by the journalist how he handled civilian life after the war and his comment was "I think I'm a little paranoid"! When asked why he felt that way he replied..."Because I sleep with a M1911 .45 pistol under my pillow at night"!

Hell...I've been paranoid all my life I guess!!

When I worked for the Army at the proving ground, one of my friends there was a young captain whose outstanding combat record in Viet Nam had made him the subject of a chapter in one of General S L A Marshall's military-history books. He was a legend among the troops at the proving ground, most of them veterans of 'Nam. He was denied promotion to major because he was "too old" at 35. (He was a "mustang," not a West Pointer. If he'd had "The Ring," � ) He had to revert to his old rank of sergeant.

He was a lot like Audie Murphy � a quiet Montanan with a chestful of "fruit salad," including Bronze and/or Silver Stars with oak-leaf clusters, but no Medal of Honor.

Another Texan to receive the MOH. This time in Vietnam.


http://www.psywarrior.com/benavidez.html

To have survived all that happened to this guy is incredible

Glad this came up. Audie Murphy was a hero of mine ever since I saw the movie. To Hell and Back was on here this am. When he used the Thompson he fired a burst in a zig zag pattern. There are a couple of other movies that showed this too. I assume this is something he picked up in combat.

Amazing. Those special ops boys were truly "special."

I highly recommend Roy's biography. One of the guy's that I worked with until he retired in September knew Roy well though he was a little younger. Juan's older brother was killed in Vietnam and might have even joined up because he was Roy's friend. Roy is an icon in our part of Texas.

My Grandmother knew Audie Murphy when they were dirt poor kids. She said he was a "good looking and sweet boy". I bet the Nazis would have NOT agreed with her. My grandmother died last year and I always wanted to hear more of her childhood and teen stories but never got around to it.

Another interesting semi local is: http://billywaugh.net/

All three of these guys did extraordinary before they were 20. Hard to imagine it by today's standards.

My Uncle joined the Army at 16. Became a Ranger and was a LRP in Vietnam. His enlistment was over before he was 21. Think about that. My youngest son is sitting here in the den with me and will be 19 in 3 weeks. Hard to visualize him doing that already. Hopefully he can get his BS degree then at least if he chooses the Military he will be an O.

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0bgnaWoYPvI[/video]