Actors - Audie Murphy

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Audie Murphy

	Actors - Audie Murphy

Audie Leon Murphy (June 20, 1924 – May 28, 1971), was the United States' most decorated combat soldier of World War II. He later became an actor and singer/songwriter. Among his thirty three awards and decorations was the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for bravery that can be given to any individual in the United States of America, for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Murphy received every decoration for valor that the U.S. had to offer, some of them more than once, and five decorations by France and Belgium. He served three years active service as a combat soldier in World War II. Murphy was released from the Army as an active member and reassigned to inactive status on September 21 1945.

Audie Murphy was the son of poor Texas sharecroppers, Emmett and Josie Bell Murphy. He was born near Kingston, Texas (Hunt County). He grew up in nearby Celeste, Texas (Hunt County). He went to school in Celeste until the eighth grade when he dropped out to help raise his family. He also lived in the rural area of Farmersville and later at Greenville, Texas. Murphy was the sixth of twelve children, only nine of whom survived to see their eighteenth birthday. Food was scarce and the Murphy family was very poor. Before his ninth birthday, he had become a decent shot, hunting rabbits and squirrels to help put food on the table. Sometimes he could only afford a single shell in his rifle to supply meat for his family of nine brothers and sisters. He became a very good shot, a skill which served him well later in life. In 1936, when Murphy was twelve, his father Emmett Murphy, deserted the family and never returned. At twelve, Murphy left school and was hired out as a farmer's helper, ploughing and picking cotton at a dollar a day to help make ends meet. He also went to work in a combination general store, garage and filling station in Greenville, Texas. At sixteen, Audie was working in a radio repair shop when tragedy struck again. He became an orphan when his mother, Josie Bell, died. He had to place the three youngest siblings in an orphanage according to his mother's last wish.

Murphy married actress, Wanda Hendrix in 1949. They were divorced in 1951. He did not have any children with Hendrix. He subsequently married Pamela Archer in 1951, with whom he had two children, Terry Michael Murphy (born 1952) and James Shannon Murphy (born 1954). Murphy was also a successful rancher and businessman. He bred and raised thoroughbred horses and owned several ranches in Texas, Tucson, Arizona and Perris, California.

In 1955, Murphy became interested in Freemasonry. He was encouraged by his close friend, Texas theater owner Skipper Cherry, to petition and join the Masonic Order in California. He returned to Texas to conduct his thirty two degree work and to join the Shriners. Murphy remained active in various masonic events and was a member of good standing at the time of his death in 1971.

Military career

Desperately needing money, Murphy tried to join the military in order to earn enough to help support his family. Murphy had tried to enlist in the Army in his native Texas as soon as the U.S. declared war due to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, but was rejected because he was too young. He was accepted into the U.S. Army after being turned down by the Navy, Marines and Army Paratroopers because he was too short. He signed the papers a few days after his eighteenth birthday and was sent through Basic Training at Fort Wolters, Texas. During a training session of close order drill at Camp Wolters he fell flat on his face and passed out cold. The company commanders tried to have him transferred to cook and bakers' school because of his baby- faced youthfulness, but Murphy persisted in becoming a fighting soldier. There he received the nickname "baby". After thirteen weeks of basic training, he was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland for advanced infantry training. Murphy had to fight to be able to go overseas to see combat. He was then attached to Company B, First Battalion, Fifteenth Regiment, U.S. third Infantry Division and shipped to Casablanca, Morocco (North Africa). After helping wipe up the last of the Axis resistance, he and his unit were sent to participate in the Invasion of Sicily. Upon arrival in Sicily, he had his first encounter with death. He killed two Italian soldiers as they tried to escape on horseback. When questioned by his platoon leader why he did it, he replied, "It was my job". Murphy contracted malaria while in Sicily. It put him in the hospital for several days while in Salerno, and on an occasional basis during the remainder of the war. Next, Murphy was involved in the Invasion of Italy. Murphy distinguished himself as an effective soldier by fighting his way out of an enemy ambush. When he returned he was promoted to Sergeant. He also received a Bronze Star for his actions in Italy. Then the third Infantry Division invaded Southern France on August 15 1944. Murphy's battalion was in an ambush in which a friend of his, Private Lattie Tipton, was killed as he tried to accept some surrendering German troops. Murphy decided to avenge Tipton's death by taking a German machine gun with his grenades and destroying several other enemy positions nearby. For this action he received a Distinguished Service Cross. Just weeks later, he received two Silver Stars for twice saving his patrol from a German ambush. Soon after that, he was given a commission as a Second Lieutenant and went back to command the platoon he had served in. He was wounded by a sniper bullet in the hip and spent three months recuperating. When he got back, he led his men in the action that earned him the Medal of Honor.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Audie Murphy ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Audie Murphy; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Actors - Audie Murphy

Military career

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay