Audie Murphy | Hero
Early Life
Audie Murphy was born on June 20, 1925, in Kingston, Texas. He was the seventh of twelve children and like his siblings, forced to move repeatedly as his parents sought work wherever they could find it. As difficult as life was, things got even harder when the Great Depression hit in 1929. His father took jobs on various farms while his mother worked wherever she could to help the family make ends meet. To help support the family, Murphy dropped out of school in the fifth grade, taking on various odd jobs such as picking cotton and delivering newspapers.
To say things were difficult during the Great Depression is a drastic understatement, and deserves its own podcast, which we hope to do next season. Until then, take a moment and consider that during the Depression one in four workers lost their jobs and over 25% of the nation’s workforce was unemployed. Families across America lost their savings and everything they owned through no fault of their own. For the Murphys, who had nothing even before the depression, this meant that any of the 12 children over the age of 6 would have to find some sort of work to feed themselves. It is often tempting to look at the modern-day (even think about the crash of 2008) and try to do a comparison between the challenges we now face and those faced by the families during that time. With as much grace as possible, I would advise against this consideration. None of us, including me, have even a conceptual idea of the hardship faced by Americans during that time. There is no comparison between then and now, at any level, and we are best served by the knowledge and context of that time, so we can remember what happened then to be thankful for what we have now.
It was in this hard reality that Audi Murphy grew up, where his father abandoned the entire family and he was forced to provide for everyone at the age of 16, where his mother eventually died, and he watched his younger siblings get sent to orphanages. The contrast and absolute of right and wrong were forged for Murphy during this time in his life and served him through many of his decisions and actions, both the good and the bad. It was through this lens that he read about the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and decided to enlist in the armed forces at the age of 17.
The Italian Campaign
Murphy first tried to enlist in both the Marine Corps and the Army Airborne. At five feet, five inches tall, underweight, and underage, he was rejected by both. He was later advised to spend a few months gaining weight before applying again, which he did by eating bananas and drinking milk. After working with his sister to falsify his age, he reapplied and was recruited by the U.S. Army on June 30, 1942.
He went through 13 weeks of basic training before being sent to advanced infantry training in late fall, where he thrived in the wheel of Army life and grew desperate to prove himself in combat. He was eventually assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, and his first taste of combat was in North Africa. It wasn’t until early July 1943 during the invasion of Sicily that Murphy got his first full taste of war. After his regiment landed on the southern edge of the island, they began their long march toward the strategic port of Messina, which was the first step to retaking the whole of Italy. It was here that Murphy lost many of his romantic views of the war. Surrounded by pack mules, inundated with hunger, thirst, endless marches, and utter exhaustion, Murphy’s discipline and experience with previous hardship helped him excel in the environment. Furthermore, these experiences only solidified his matter-of-fact views regarding the war and the Army’s role in it. One such incident that showed this was when he spotted two Italian officers escaping across a field. Without hesitation, Murphy calmly shot both of them. When asked why he did that, his simple reply was, “That’s our job.”
After recovering from Malaria and insisting that he rejoin his previous unit, Murphy would see combat again after his company was pinned down in a rock quarry by German gunfire. Murphy organized those with him and returned fire, eventually advancing on the Germans, killing several as others fled. After Messina was taken by Allied forces, Murphy’s unit continued the terrible hike up the Italian boot experiencing hard conditions and engaging in fierce combat. “I began feeling like a fugitive from the law of averages,” Murphy said once after being pinned down in on a beach after the disastrous Anzio landing. “Experience helps. You seldom learn that a situation is as bad as the imagination paints it.”
Through his many engagements, Murphy proved to have a natural tactical intelligence. Coupled with his self-discipline, this enabled him to steel his nerves in the face of true horror and work with his unit to accomplish assigned objectives. As the campaign in Italy continued the number of acquaintances around him progressively dwindled until eventually, he became the last of his 235 unit to survive the invasion. After the taking of Rome on June 5, 1944, Audie went on a short leave, staying in the city as the Army continued its advance north. Alone in the city, his friends dead, he observed other solitary American soldiers and remarked, “We prowl through Rome like ghosts,” he reported, “finding no satisfaction in anything we see or do. I feel like a man briefly reprieved from death, and there is no joy within me. We can have no hope until the war is ended. Thinking of the men on the fighting fronts, I grow lonely on the streets of Rome.”
The Invasion of France and Push Across Europe
Murphy landed with his company in Southern France on August 15, 1944 and was almost immediately pinned down by German gunfire. Reinforcing the line, his unit provided cover fire while Murphy borrowed a .30 caliber machine gun from a heavy weapons platoon. With his best friend, Private Lattie Tipton, he increased the rate of fire on the German position and killed two of the enemy in the process. Once they exhausted their ammunition, they charged the German position with their carbines and grenades, overtaking it as their unit slowly moved up behind them. As they continued advancing on additional enemy positions, one of the German soldiers raised a white flag of surrender. Both Murphy and Tipton lowered their weapons and Tipton advanced on the German to accept his surrender, but before he could do so, the German killed him. Seeing the lifeless body of his best friend fall to the ground, Murphy became enraged. Grabbing an abandoned German machine gun, he charged, firing the gun from the hip with one hand and throwing grenades with the other. In all, he destroyed several fortified German positions, killing five, wounding two, and capturing more. For this feat of bravery, Murphy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. When asked how felt after being presented the award, he said, “I won the DSC. But all he (Tipton) got was death.”
As the war continued, Murphy’s unit advanced quickly, and as before, Murphy watched his friends continue to die around him. “So many men have come and gone that I can no longer keep track of them,” he lamented. “I have isolated myself as much as possible, desiring only to do my work and be left alone. I feel burnt out, emotionally and physically exhausted. Let the hill be strewn with corpses, so long as I do not have to turn over the bodies and find the familiar face of a friend.”
During the month of October of 1944, now Sergeant Murphy accidentally led his men into two ambushes. The first of the two pinned his unit down until he was single-handedly able to flank the German patrol and wipe them out. On the second occasion, he crawled forward under extreme enemy fire to call in accurate artillery onto the enemy positions. For these events and his heroism in both, he was awarded the prestigious Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster.
As the fighting continued, so did he, and as the engagements mounted and his leadership became more and more evident his superiors – as they had done many times before - offered him a battlefield commission to make him an officer. Murphy again initially refused, citing his lack of schooling as being an obstacle to him being able to complete paperwork and other administrative duties. In addition, officers were regularly rotated out of companies and Murphy wanted to remain with his. It was only after the Army adjusted his administrative duties and ordered that he stay with his company did Murphy agree to the commission. Now 2nd Lieutenant Murphy, he found himself in command of 120 men and despite his best attempts, began to connect them whenever possible.
By this time, Murphy was already one of the most decorated soldiers in the US Army. He had served and survived countless engagements across several theatres of war, seen friends die around him, and proven many feats of uncommon valor, but the challenge of his life was still to come.
Winning the Medal of Honor
During the month of January 1945, the 3rd Infantry Division had been ordered to clear a large wooded area near the city of Colmar. It was the dead of winter, with the snow and wind being so violent that his men were unable to dig foxholes into the frozen ground. “This night seemed unusually long, and the snow colder than I ever dreamed it could be,” Murphy later wrote. “The sound of picks on frozen ground beat against my eardrums like mad.” When his superior officer was wounded not long after their advance, Murphy took command. At this point, every officer and enlisted man in his company was either dead or wounded, reducing the company’s strength from 120 to only 18 able riflemen. Nevertheless, Murphy’s orders were to hold the line. They dug into the frozen ground after several hours and were later reinforced by a pair of M-10 tank destroyers. Additional reinforcements that were set to arrive did not, and the 18 men with two armored vehicles found themselves holding the line against an unknown number of enemy infantry and armor.
On the morning of January 26th, Murphy and his men saw movement in the tree line ahead. As the morning fog cleared, over 200 infantrymen and six Mark VI Tiger Tanks appeared and began a counterattack.
I will stop here for a moment and give you, our amazing audience, an opportunity to take in this scene. First, consider 18 men with two armored vehicles against 200 infantry. Faced with only infantry, there is no strategic or tactical way Murphy’s men could hold the line. Second, add the armor. A single Tiger tank was near impossible to destroy by allied armor. To put in perspective, a single Tiger Tank could take out more than 12 American tanks (The Sherman) before being crippled enough to finally be put down. It fired an 88-millimeter shell, the most powerful of the German artillery, and could decimate an entire town without any support. Six of these advanced on Murphy and his 18 men. Six. I don’t need to tell you the odds of the 18 men winning against such a force, because there are no odds. It’s zero. Listen now and join us in awe at what happened next. Remember…this is real history.
Seeing the approaching force, the Tank Destroyers open fire on the Tigers but have no effect. Both are destroyed within the first 30 minutes of the attack. Murphy radios in for an artillery barrage, giving exact coordinates on the enemy’s position. As the shells began to fall, he and the rest of his men watch in horror as the American artillery shells bounced off the approaching Tiger tanks, even after direct hits. Opening the map and putting it on the ground in his foxhole, Murphy weighs his options. He then turns to his platoon sergeant, and yells, “Get the hell out of here! That’s an order! I’ll hold the line. Go, now.” His sergeant hesitantly pulls the men back leaving Murphy alone on the line.
German troops and armor are now only 200 yards away. Murphy rises over the edge of his foxhole and fires his carbine until his ammunition ran out. The artillery continues to fall, taking out more German infantry.
150 yards away. Murphy calls in new coordinates for the artillery. “Keep it coming!” he screams into the radio as shells fall. He grabs a dropped rifle and expells its ammunition into the approaching line.
100 yards away. He calls in new coordinates and the barrage continues. The Tigers and German artillery unleash on his position. He fires his sidearm at the line, trying to compensate for distance. He looks around in desperation. Atop one of the burning tank destroyers, he spots an unspoiled Browning .50 caliber machine gun. He wraps the radio around his shoulder, runs to the burning vehicle, climbs to the top, and opens fire on the approaching German line. The .50 caliber begins cutting down German infantry.
50 yards away. He calls in the new coordinates to the artillery teams. They call back asking him how close the enemy is. He radios back that he will hand the radio to the Germans so they can give them their exact position. He continues to expel rounds from the Browning. The vehicle continues to burn around him, searing his hands and clothes.
25 yards away. The Tigers, German artillery, and infantrymen are firing at what they believe to be a full line of American GIs. Murphy continues to fire. He reloads the Browning and drops the hammer again, killing anything he can see. Both American and German artillery is now falling around him.
10 years away. He starts throwing every grenade he has at the line of Germans. The Tigers halt as American artillery continues to fall. Murphy depletes the rounds from the Browning. He watches as the German infantry begins to retreat. Then, for reasons that he questioned the rest of his life, the Tigers begin to pull back.
With the vehicle now entirely consumed by fire and his rounds depleted, Murphy leaps from the wreckage and begins his retreat. Behind him, the tank destroyer finally explodes with such force that it knocks Murphy to the ground. He eventually gets back to his remaining men, regroups, and then clears the woods of any remaining Germans.
For his actions in this engagement, Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor on June 2, 1945. By this time, Murphy was the most decorated soldier in the war. “In addition to his nation’s highest honor, the Texan had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit, the prized Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Bronze Star with cluster, a Purple Heart with cluster, the Presidential Unit Citation, the French Fourragere, the French Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre with Palm and Silver Star, the French Liberation Medal, the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm, and campaign ribbons—28 medals and citations in all. He had spent 400 days on the front lines in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany, and was officially credited with having killed, wounded, or captured 240 enemy soldiers. And he had saved the lives of many of his own men. Yet he was still too young to vote.”
Post-War
Audie Murphy was sent home from the war on June 10, 1945, to national acclaim. He returned to Texas and began to pursue a career in acting, appearing in over 40 films, including the 1955 classic "To Hell and Back," based on his memoir of the same name. Murphy was also active in veterans' affairs and spoke out about his experiences in combat. He was a strong advocate for the rights of veterans and worked to raise awareness about the challenges they faced. He was a founding member of the National Veterans Foundation and served on the board of the World War II Memorial Foundation. Murphy struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that was not well understood at the time. He suffered from nightmares and flashbacks. He had financial difficulties for much of his civilian life but was eventually able to pull himself back again to some level of success before dying in a plane crash on May 28, 1971.
Legacy
This season is about heroes. Throughout the season we have shown you many heroes and that such people come in many forms. Audie Murphy was in the truest sense, a hero. As it is with most of our podcasts, we have shown you some highlights to encourage you to read more about Murphy and his life, while also working to spin out our discussion next week. When taking in the whole of Audie Murphy’s life, we see a man who cared for those around him, being fiercely loyal to his friends while adhering to a code of discipline that enabled him to accomplish unimaginable feats of bravery and fortitude. In the stories of history, we see an example that many heroes after him followed. His determination, drive, and conviction pulled him into the impossible and showed him the way to victory. This season is about heroes. With Audie Murphy, we see not only the classic definition of the word but the history that made it manifest.
