Audie Murphy

The banner reads: The most decorated U.S. soldier of World War II. At War’s end he was just 21 and the stats read that he had killed 240 German soldiers, was wounded himself 3 times and was decorated with 33 medals including the Nation’s highest The Congressional Medal of Honor. When it was time for a Hollywood career it would be James Cagney that beckoned him to the silver screen.

Murphy was born Hunt County, Texas June 20, 1925 in a ramshackle house to a sharecropper who sired 12 children but unfortunately his father had no plan as how to nourish the ever burgeoning brood. Audie the 7^th of the 12 to the rescue as he hunted small game including rabbits which he supplemented to feed his siblings and mother. Audie claimed it was this hunting for family sustenance that helped him attain his deadly accuracy with the rifle during the war years.  By age 15 his father had flown the coop permanently and his beloved mother died a year later. When news of Pearl Harbor rang out Audie tried to enlist in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps but all 3 turned him down for being underage and underweight. His sister falsifying his birth document by a whole year Audie was accepted by the Army in June of 1942.

After extensive training it was February 1943 and he was on his way to North Africa for active duty and active it became. When his division moved to Sicily Audie contracted malaria but he distinguished himself in battle nonetheless.  When his unit moved again to Southern France and his best friend was killed by German skullduggery Murphy became enraged and annihilated the enemy that had just killed pal Lattie Tipton. He commandeered a German machine gun attacking enemy positions gaining his first citation the Distinguished Service Cross. Murphy would also receive medals from France and Belgium but the story of the Medal of Honor is recounted here. The German 19^th Division held a position in the Colmar Pocket a region in the central Alsace region in France. After the enemy had lit the American M10 tank destroyer on fire Murphy told his men to retreat to the woods in safety but Audie mounted it alone and began firing the .50 caliber machine gun while the tank was ablaze and for an hour stood atop the tank killing 50 Germans. Wounded in the leg he remained with his men and for his gallantry he received the prestigious Medal of Honor. 

When Murphy returned home a hero LIFE magazine put the baby faced soldier on the cover of their July 16^th issue and it was this notoriety that gave James Cagney the inspiration to invite Audie to Hollywood to begin his acting career which at first had him struggling for years in B pictures.  What elevated him to star status was he decided to write his autobiography entitled To Hell and Back, which he penned in 1949. Described as a shy man and ever self-effacing while writing his account of his war exploits Audie was careful to not to engage in any hyperbole so he wouldn’t be accused of hyperventilating over his war hero status.  Nonetheless it became a National bestseller. That same year he was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year.  Spurred on by the novels success he desperately wanted to portray himself in the movie and the Studio agreed. The film became Universal’s highest grossing film in 1955 and stayed that way until 1975 when the blockbuster Jaws would unseat it from it’s ranking.  Murphy’s real life best friend Charles Drake starred alongside him adding more comfort to his role.  Audie’s filmography listed 44 features mostly westerns and in addition maybe unbeknownst to some became a successful country music songwriter and featured artists like Dean Martin, Jerry Wallace and Harry Nilsson would record his music. 

David Niven in his biography stated that Audie would sleep with a loaded gun next to him and on occasion when startled he would fire off a round. In fact Audie got caught up in a bar fight one night and nearly beat a man to death and was fortunate to escape attempted murder charges. His volatile temper would bedevil his otherwise shy nature.

Audie’s married life was a sad one and what would later be diagnosed at posttraumatic stress disorder would doom his first marriage to actress Wanda Hendrix. Audie after seeing Wanda’s picture on the cover of Coronet magazine arranged to meet her. They fell in love and married in January of 1949 but his depression, nightmares and insomnia and once holding her at gunpoint ended their marriage by April the next year.  He would later become addicted to sleeping pills and by the time of his passing Audie had squandered his fortune on gambling and bad investments. While he was struggling financially he was offered a plentitude of commercial parts to star for cigarettes and alcohol but refused feeling that it would set a bad example for the children who looked up to Audie Murphy the man.

On May 8, 1971 when he boarded a private jet in Atlanta his pilot encountered heavy fog but they chose to fly through it and the Aero Commander 680 crashed into the side of a brush mountain some 20 miles west of Roanoke, Virginia. No one survived the crash. 

Audie Murphy was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery and outside of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and John F. Kennedy Murphy’s is the most visited gravesite.