I read his biography “To Hell and Back.” I highly recommend it.
Great guy - had a good movie career. And pretty handsome, too.
America’s forgotten hero’s. Or should I say “ignored” - the media today doesn’t like the word “Hero” ....
“And in 3 years of war, Audie Murphy performed feats of bravery unequaled by any American soldier.”
I can’t imagine Audie Murphy agreeing with that statement. And when did Texas not honor him? He was a media darling from the get-go, and it made him really uncomfortable. Honors were heaped on him, including the MoH. Texans were justly proud of their native son.
True heroes usually are like that.
For as long as I can remember I have been struck but the similarities between childhoods of Lt. Audie Murphy and Sgt. Alvin York. Both backbreaking poor. Both had to learn to shoot to feed their families.
And the huge differences. One tried to avoid military service and the other was not wanted by the military.
I cried when each died.
US troops (Operation Torch) didn't arrive in North Africa until November of 1942. Early 1942?
I have visited the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum in
Greenville, TX and the Texas Heritage Museum at Hill College in Hillsboro, TX. The Greenville museum has exhibits about his movie career and the Hillsboro museum has his gun collection.
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc16/txheritage1.htm
http://www.lone-star.net/mall/txtrails/hillsboro.htm
Murphy, "Hang on! I'll let you talk to 'em!"
Third Infantry Division was one hell of an outfit, suffering the highest casualty rate of any division in the war. They saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Italy (including Salerno and Anzio), Southern France, and across Germany.
Not to take anything away from Audie Murphy, I’ll bet there were many, many heroes during WWII who went unrecognized do to conditions at the time...
To me, they were all heroes...(Except for maybe an uncle of mine who claimed he drove his tank into Russia and partied there for two weeks...)
The movie was filmed at Ft. Lewis, WA. It served as North Africa, Italy, and Southern France for the battle scenes. The assault on the Italian farm house was very realistic. It was so realistic that several of the actors experienced PTSD episodes (including Audie Murphy).
In realty, Murphy won his Medal of Honor while fighting from a burning M10 tank destroyer. The movie could not locate any M10 vehicles to use and so the M4 Sherman tank was substituted. At the time (10 years after war’s end), the M4 was nearly out of Army service and the production company managed to scrounge two for the battle scene. The “Germans” used Korean War-era M41 tanks.
Murphy's private life was beset by undiagnosed PTSD. He habitually slept with a loaded .45 under his pillow. He had violent nightmares and it led to the break up of his first marriage [1949-1952]. His second marriage was more permanent and lasted until his untimely death in 1971 (small plane crash). Murphy and his wife Pamela had two sons.
After her husband died, Pamela Murphy was obligated to pay his debts. She moved into a small apartment and got a clerk position at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles, where she remained employed for 35 years. In 1975, a court awarded Murphy's widow and two children $2.5 million in damages due to plane crash.