The Life and Sad Ending of Audie Murphy - Story of American Legend Hero

the life and sad ending of audie murphy story of american legend hero audie murphy was born audi leon murphy on 20th june 1925 in kingston hunt county texas the seventh of 12 children of emmett pat a sharecropper and josie murphy leon as audi was known until he went into the army had chores to do at an early age when he was five years old he was hoeing and picking cotton alongside his parents and siblings there was no time for play and not much for school either murphy recalled years later it was full-time job just existing yet nearly everyone who knew murphy during his childhood noted his intelligence and his determination to be somebody he loved to read and enjoy listening to his uncles recount their experiences in world war one to murphy it all seemed very glamorous and exciting in 1939 at the age of 15 murphy dropped out of school for good and left home to seek work that would help the family he held a series of low-paying odd jobs then in 1940 his father walked out on the family leaving them in dire straits this turn of events took a heavy toll on murphy's mother and in may 1941 she died murphy was devastated by his mother's death and bitterly resented his father as he looked at his own life however he realized that he was headed down a similar path his lack of education and opportunity meant that he would probably never be able to escape the poverty that had entrapped his family a war got murphy out of texas less than seven months after his mother died the united states entered world war ii like so many other eager young men seventeen-year-old murphy tried to enlist in the military but at only five feet five inches tall and 112 pounds the babyface teenager was rejected by both the marines and the army because of his age he tried again after he turned 18. the marines still weren't interested but on june 30th 1942 he was officially inducted into the army and immediately sent to boot camp for combat infantry training there he excelled at marksmanship and quickly developed into a well-disciplined soldier in late january 1943 murphy shipped out to north africa assigned to company b first battalion 15th infantry regiment third division he was sent to the island of sicily on july 10th it was there that he began to compile his remarkable service record aggressive and audacious yet level-headed murphy proved to be the ideal soldier murphy quickly discovered that war was not quite what he expected it to be ten seconds after the first shot was fired at me by an enemy soldier combat was no longer glamorous he later observed but it was important because all of a sudden i wanted very much to stay alive fear was always beside him and he could sometimes feel his insides twist into knots but as murphy noted after the war quote sometimes it takes more courage to get up and run than to stay you either just do it or you don't i got so scared the first day in combat i just decided to go along with it murphy and his battalion headed north through sicily their first enemy encounters were with italian troops who proved to be easy to subdue then they came face to face with tougher and well-trained german soldiers from his experience in sicily he gained what he termed a healthy respect for his german counterparts by mid-august of 1943 however sicily was in allied hands after a brief rest period near naples in late november and early december of 1943 the third division received its next orders an amphibious landing at anzio to be followed by a quick thrust to northern rome murphy missed the actual landing but he rejoined his division as they waited on the beachhead for reinforcements the delay proved costly however within days the germans had moved some one hundred and twenty five thousand troops into position the germans showered allied ground troops with artillery fire but nineteen-year-old murphy distinguished himself when he stepped up to lead his men after his company commander was wounded however the allies were no match for the germans and they were finally forced to retreat they took refuge in cold muddy foxholes and trenches for some five months while under constant fire meanwhile murphy was promoted to platoon leader murphy earned his first medal the bronze star in march of 1944 for single-handedly knocking out a german tank he received two more awards in may the combat infantryman badge which set him apart from soldiers who had not been under fire and the first oak leaf clustered the bronze star medal which recognized his exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy the third division's next assignment was to land on the coast of southern france to start driving north along the country's eastern border beginning august 15 1944 the story of murphy's exploits becomes simply incredible to quote his biographer murphy encountered a hill dotted with german machine gun nests that were protecting a big gun aimed at the coast he headed up the hill alone methodically destroying several of the machine gun nests along the way suddenly his best friend in the unit appeared on his side and insisted on staying with him then as murphy and his buddy engaged enemy troops in gun battle the germans indicated they were ready to surrender murphy was suspicious but his friend stood up to acknowledge the gesture and was immediately gunned down in a burst of fury murphy killed the germans who had shot his friend and continued on his rampage up the hill taking out another machine gun nest and eventually securing the area for the allies for his actions he won the distinguished service cross the second highest u.s army medal for valor from then on murphy absolutely craved action and sought it out whenever and wherever possible he astounded his fellow soldiers by volunteering for one dangerous assignment after another he was especially adept at stalking and killing snipers on september 15 1944 he was wounded for the first time but after just a few days in the hospital for treatment he was back on the front lines offered a promotion to second lieutenant in the wake of his heroics murphy turned it down expressing embarrassment about his lack of formal education and indicating his desire to remain with the men he had fought with for so long in eastern france during the fall of 1944 murphy earned two silver stars the first was for saving his commanding officer his second was awarded for actions he took to destroy a well-camouflaged machine gun and sniper outpost in the end murphy received a promotion to second lieutenant which he accepted on the condition that he could remain with his company murphy was wounded for a second time on october 26 1944 when a shot from a sniper glanced off of a tree and struck him three days pass before he could be evacuated and by the time he made it to the hospital the wound had become gangrenous he spent the next two months out of action but was back on the front lines by mid-january of 1945 during the coldest and snowiest winter europe had seen in 25 years when murphy rejoined his regiment it was preparing to clear the germans out of a much disputed territory on the border of germany and france the task proved to be an arduous one american ground troops were ill-equipped to endure the harsh weather meanwhile murphy sustained his third war wound the injury did not require medical attention so he kept fighting he was placed in command of company b after its first lieutenant was badly wounded with that murphy became the sole officer in a company that had once numbered over 200 men but was now down to only 18. on january 26 1945 murphy's courage under fire earned him the nation's highest honor for personal bravery and self-sacrifice in combat the congressional medal of honor murphy and his men were ordered to take up a position and hold it less than two dozen americans protected by two tank destroyers then squared off against some 200 enemy soldiers backed up by six tanks in the opening minutes of the battle company b's machine gun squad was wiped out one of its tanks destroyed slid into a ditch and had to be abandoned and the other tank destroyer was hit by artillery fire murphy figured the end was near as he now realized how outnumbered he and his men were ordering his men to retreat murphy's state and directed artillery fire into the area while emptying his gun at the advancing germans he then spotted the burning tank destroyer about 10 yards away and noticed that its machine gun appeared to be undamaged he ran over jumped on the tank destroyer's tourette and started firing the machine gun as he continued to direct the ongoing artillery barrage he kept up this attack on his own for at least 30 minutes and perhaps as long as an hour killing or wounding some 50 enemy soldiers finally the germans were forced to withdraw after being knocked unconscious momentarily murphy came to and started walking weak exhausted and in a bit of a daze but miraculously unscathed except for a slight re-injury to his legs from a distance he heard the tank destroyer explode murphy then threw himself back into battle hammering at the germans as they retreated east towards the rhine river by february most of the enemy forces that were still west of the rhine had surrendered this gave the third division some time to relax a bit followed by another couple of weeks of rest well behind enemy lines during this period murphy was promoted to first lieutenant at the end of the month training began for an invasion of germany murphy did not join his men on the front lines this time to keep him out of combat his superiors had assigned him to serve as a liaison officer with the 15th infantry murphy nevertheless managed to involve himself in some dangerous situations from time to time including one instance in which he raced to the front lines to lead his beloved company b out of danger murphy spent the remaining weeks of the war engaging in similar operations that suited his taste for action and thrills the end of the conflict found him on a train to the french riviera where he had hoped to enjoy a little rest and relaxation before resuming command of company b at its headquarters just outside salzburg austria it was there that murphy officially received his congressional medal of honor on june 2nd 1945 a few weeks shy of his 21st birthday the ceremony capped a truly remarkable two years that saw him become the most decorated soldier in u.s history murphy was ultimately awarded a total of 37 medals 11 of which were for valor murphy returned to the united states a larger-than-life hero a shy texan whose smiling face adorned the cover of news magazines he marched in victory parades and made personal appearances before cheering crowds yet murphy's post-war life was notable in its modest successes and major troubles restless he couldn't seem to find his niche and took little pleasure in an ordinary existence in late 1945 he headed to hollywood to pursue a film career although he appeared in a string of low-budget westerns and war movies over a 20-year period he turned in only a couple of truly noteworthy performances in 1951 he played a young civil war soldier in the red badge of courage that garnered him his best reviews four years later in 1955 he played himself in the movie version of his autobiography to hell and back which proved to be a hit with critics and at the box office in the early 1960s he dabbled in songwriting and produced a number of country western tunes murphy's personal life was also unsettled plagued by recurring nightmares he slept with a loaded gun under his pillow for many years he suffered tremendous guilt about the war and agonized over friends who never made it back he became hooked on prescription drugs womanizing and involvement in various business schemes caused him to lose most of his money by the late 1960s murphy's many setbacks had left him bankrupt one of the lowest points in his life came in 1970 when he was charged with assault after he beat up a man and fired a shot at him during an argument he was eventually acquitted but the negative publicity generated by the case proved tough to live down sadly on may 28 1971 murphy died along with five others in a plane crash while on a business trip in a ceremony befitting the hero that he had once been he was buried at arlington national cemetery with full military honors goodbye audie murphy

Channel: Most Actor & Actress Hollywood

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Id: Pqq0zj3rGSE

Length: 16min 0sec (960 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 09 2021