Audie Murphy America's Most Decorated Soldier

Audie Murphy was born on June 25, 1925 in Kingston, Texas. His official year of birth, according to his military records, is a year earlier, 1924, as a result of him falsifying his birth date to be old enough to join, not an uncommon practice in that era by young men. He was born into a poor East Texas family of 12 children, with his father being a sharecropper who was in and out of the family's life before eventually abandoning them. Young Murphy quit school in the fifth grade to earn money to help feed the family, earning one dollar a day picking cotton. During this time, he became proficient with a rifle, hunting small game to help feed them. His mother died in 1941 when Audie was 16, and that traumatic event stayed with him throughout life. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy tried to enlist in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. He was rejected because of age and the fact that he was underweight, Audie was always a man of slight build, until his sister falsified an affidavit regarding his birth date and he was accepted into the Army. During basic training, he earned marksmanship awards. Murphy's first taste of combat occurred during the Italian Campaign starting in July of 1943 when the 3rd Infantry landed in Sicily. He spent a little over a year in Italy and his reputation as a highly motivated and effective soldier began to emerge. On one occasion, he and two other Americans were ambushed by seven German soldiers. Machine gun fire killed one of the Americans, but Murphy and the other soldier engaged the Germans and killed five of them. On another occasion, during the assault on the Volterra Line, he and fellow soldiers killed three attacking German soldiers and captured four others. He was hospitalized in Naples in January 1944 with malaria, which prevented him from participating in the initial landing at the Anzio beachhead. He returned to his unit on January 29, 1944 and while taking shelter in an abandoned farmhouse, he and his platoon killed the crew of a passing German tank. Murphy subsequently crawled close enough to the tank to destroy it with grenades. For the balance of the spring and early summer, he continued scouting patrols and took several German prisoners in the process. During his time in Italy, Audi began a meteoric rise in the ranks, achieving PFC on May 7th, Corporal on July 15th, Sergeant on December 13th, all in 1943, and finally Staff Sergeant in January 1944. Due to the success at Anzio, Rome was ultimately liberated on June 4th of 1944. Audi earned several awards for his service in Italy, including the Bronze Star with V-Device, Combat Infantry Badge, and Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for the Bronze Star. Murphy was deployed with his unit during the initial wave of Americans in the Allied invasion of France and landed on Yellow Beach on August 15th, 1944. It didn't take long for him to continue his meritorious service during the invasion. His platoon was advancing through an orchard when they were hit by German machine gun fire. He manned a machine gun and returned fire against the attackers, killing two and wounding one. Two German soldiers faked a surrender and when Murphy's best friend attempted a capture, they shot and killed him. He advanced on the house under heavy fire where the Germans were hiding, killing six, wounding two, and taking eleven prisoners. For that, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. For his work with the 15th Infantry Regiment during the offensive that secured the area around Monte Lymar on August 27th and 28th, he received the Presidential Unit Citation. Otty received his first Purple Heart on September 15th, 1944 for an injury to his heel in a mortar blast. His first Silver Star came when he killed four and wounded three at a German machine gun position in the Cluree River Valley. Three days later, he earned a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Silver Star when he and his men took a hill occupied by Germans, killing 15 and wounding 35. During that action, he received a bullet to the hip which sent him to a hospital and took him out of action until January 1945. For that injury, he received a Bronze Oak Cluster for his Purple Heart. In addition, he was awarded a Battlefield Commission which elevated him to the rank of Second Lieutenant. In January 1945, he left the hospital and rejoined his unit as they advanced on the town of Holtzwier where they received fierce German resistance. He was wounded in both legs and received another Oak Cluster for his Purple Heart. During this action, he was made commander of Company B. His most famous act of heroism occurred during the battle at Holtzwier. The Germans scored a direct hit on an M-10 tank destroyer, forcing the crew to abandon it. He ordered his men to retreat to the woods, but he remained with the M-10, shooting his M-1 carbine at the enemy and directing artillery fire from his field radio. Eventually, he mounted the disabled tank destroyer and manned its .50 caliber machine gun, firing relentlessly at advancing enemy troops, killing a squad crawling toward him through a ditch. For an hour, he continued his one-man assault, killing or wounding 50 enemy combatants. He received a leg wound and only abandoned his post when he ran out of ammunition. He rejoined his men and insisted on leading them back into combat, even with the wounded leg. For his actions that day, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and awarded the Medal of Honor. Murphy received every combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army. When asked after the war why he had taken control of a machine gun and single-handedly fought an entire company of German soldiers, he answered, quote, they were killing my friends, end quote. After the war, Murphy suffered PTSD. In those days, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not yet named and was referred to as simply battle fatigue or shell shock. In 1948, he collaborated with Hollywood writer David McClure on a book about his war experience called To Hell and Back. His film career began in 1948 and spanned over 20 years, mostly feature films but some TV as well. He reluctantly agreed to play himself in the 1955 adaptation of his book To Hell and Back in the film by the same name. That film became the biggest hit in the history of Universal Studios up to that time and solidified Murphy as a bona fide Hollywood star and helped him earn many spots in movies up until his last film in 1969, A Time for Dying. His personal life included two marriages, one to actress Wanda Hendricks, which only lasted two years, and a second wife, Pamela Opal Lee. That marriage lasted 20 years until his death and yielded two sons. Audie Murphy died on May 27, 1971 at age 45 in a private plane crash near Catawba, Virginia, 20 miles west of Roanoke. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery and is the second most visited grave site behind only John F. Kennedy's. Most Medal of Honor recipients buried at Arlington National have special headstones decorated in gold leaf. At Murphy's request, his headstone remains plain, like that of an ordinary soldier. If you enjoyed this video, give a thumbs up, make a comment, and most importantly, subscribe to the channel. As always, thanks for watching.