Audie Murphy

[Slidell]

Audie volunteered for numerous patrols and his unit came under artillery fire almost every night.

Audie discovered that there was only one route the enemy armor could pass through. Audie heavily mined the area. When the Germans attacked, the lead tank hit a mine and blocked the road completely. He first threw two Molotov cocktails at the tank. Neither ignited. A grenade he tossed inside was ineffective. The Germans guarding the tank began firing at him. Audie next used rifle grenades and finally managed to knock the tank treads off one side.

Audie's battalion was tasked with capturing an enemy artillery position high up on a ridge The men of 1st Battalion slowly advanced up the slope, struggling all the way. As they reached the top, the Germans opened fire with deadly results. Every avenue of approach was covered by machine guns. Audie moved forward, out of the line of ambush, and took stock of the situation. Half the unit was pinned down, the other half was being decimated by enemy fire. Commandeering a .30 cal machine gun, Audie crawled back up the slope. Setting up the gun, he opened fire and quickly killed two Germans. With only one belt of ammunition, Audie used short bursts and forced the German gunners to cease firing and duck down. Once out of ammunition, Audie and another soldier, Private Lattie Tipton, charged the first enemy position and quickly silenced it. As they prepared to charge the next position, Tipton noticed a German soldier waving a white flag. Lattie Tipton was killed by a German soldier in a machine gun nest who was feigning surrender. Murphy went into a rage, and single-handedly wiped out the German machine gun crew which had just killed his friend.[1] He then used the German machine gun and grenades to destroy several other nearby enemy positions.

The battle at Holtzwihr (France) began with Murphy's unit at an effective strength of 19 out of 128. He then proceeded to use an abandoned, burning tank destroyer's .50 caliber machine gun to cut into the German infantry at a distance, including one full squad of German infantry that had crawled in a ditch to within 100 feet of his position. Wounded in the leg during heavy fire, he continued this nearly single-handed battle for almost an hour. His focus on the battle before him stopped only when his telephone line to the artillery fire direction center was cut by artillery fire. As his remaining men came forward, he quickly organized them to conduct a counter attack, which ultimately drove the enemy away from Holtzwihr. For these actions Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor.

His height and weight at his enlistment were 5 feet 5.5 inches (166.4 cm) and 110 pounds (50 kg); after his three year enlistment, he was 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) and 145 pounds (66 kg). (All his badassery couldn't fit so he had to grow another inch and a half)Audie Murphy received 33 US medals, plus five medals from France and one from Belgium. It has been said that he received every US medal available at the time; 5 of them awarded more than once.

 

List of his Medals

Medal of Honor

Distinguished Service Cross

Silver Star with First Oak Leaf Cluster

Legion of Merit

Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device and First Oak Leaf Cluster

Purple Heart with Second Oak Leaf Cluster

U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal

Good Conduct Medal

Distinguished Unit Emblem with First Oak Leaf Cluster

American Campaign Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns)

Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France)

World War II Victory Medal

Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp

Armed Forces Reserve Medal

Combat Infantry Badge

Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar

Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar

French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre

French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier

French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star

French Croix de Guerre with Palm

Medal of Liberated France

Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm

Edited December 24, 2010 by Slidell

[Lockon]

RAGE MODE!!!!!!!!!!

It works all the time when violence isn't enough.

[Quinn]

I would like to shake his hand.

[gruntmods]

I would like to shake his hand.

Call of Murphy: Black Ops