Audie Murphy Term Papers

AUDIE MURPHY

JUNE 28, 1971 ­ MAY 28, 1971

MOST DECORATED WWII AMERICAN SOLDIER BORN IN KINGSTON, TEXAS

Audie Leon Murphy was born to poor Texas sharecroppers, Emmett and Josie Bell Murphy. He was the sixth of twelve children. Audie grew up on farms near Farmersville, Celeste, and Greenville, Texas. His father abandoned the family in 1936, when Audie was in the fifth grade. He dropped out of school to help support his family, working for a dollar a day plowing and picking cotton on several farms in the area. To put meat on the family table, Audie hunted squirrels, rabbits, and birds. He became very skilled with the rifle and once told a friend, “If I don’t hit what I shot at, my family won’t eat today.” r His mother died just before Audie

The patrol was ambushed by the Axis enemy. He turned back the attack by the Germans and even managed to capture several enemy prisoners. For this he received a promotion and became Sergeant Murphy on December 13th. Audie was only 18 at this time.

The Third Division was sent to Italy’s Anzio Beach, a famous beach only 35 miles south of Rome. On January 22, 1944, the British landed north of the town: the 6615

Rangers hit the port, while the Third Infantry landed to the south. In a single day the Third lost more than 900 men, the most of any division. Here at Anzio 19­year­old Audie was awarded two Bronze Stars for heroism. On March 2nd Sergeant Murphy destroyed a German tank. On May 8th he was awarded a second Star by special orders. The city of Rome, Italy, fell in June.

On August 15, 1944, the 3rd Infantry landed near St. Tropez, France, and Staff Sergeant Murphy came ashore. Ahead was a German machine­gun nest. A German soldier came out and pretended to surrender. Instead, he killed Audie’s best friend, Lattie Tipton, a 33 year­old Tennessean who had become a father figure to young Audie. The shocked and angry Audie charged into the German machine­gun nest and single­handedly killed all the enemy soldiers there. He then turned the captured machine gun on nearby German positions and wiped them out, too. For this act of heroism

He was then honored with the Legion of Merit and promoted to first lieutenant.

The war in Europe finally ended, and Audie was sent home to Texas. He was recognized as the most decorated soldier of WWII. There were parades and banquets in his honor. His young, handsome face was on the cover of Life Magazine. The well­known actor James Cagney invited Audie to Hollywood to become an actor. Audie became famous, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He made 44 films, the most famous of which was “To Hell and Back.” The film was based on a book of the same name that Audie wrote about his war experiences.

The quality of man that Audie grew to be is illustrated by the fact that when he returned to the States, he took his younger siblings out of the orphanage and raised them himself. He wanted them to have a better life than his had been.

In 1950 the Korean War began, and Audie enlisted in the Texas 36th Infantry Division of the National Guard with the rank of captain. He retired in 1968 from the National Guard with the rank of major.

Audie was troubled by Post­Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time in war. He wrote and spoke out that soldiers returning from the Korean and Vietnam conflicts needed help to return to civilian life. Because of the support Audie gave returning soldiers of war, a veterans hospital was named in his