After basic training at Camp Wolters, he was sent to Fort Meade for advanced infantry training. After his sister provided an affidavit that falsified his birth date by a year, he was accepted by the U.S. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he tried to enlist, but the Army, Navy and Marine Corps all turned him down for being underweight and underage. Murphy had always wanted to be a soldier. Main article: Military career of Audie Murphy It seems I've been searching for it ever since. But when she passed away, she took something of me with her. She rarely talked and always seemed to be searching for something. She had the most beautiful hair I've ever seen. The loss of his mother stayed with Murphy throughout his life. His other siblings briefly shared the home. After the war, he bought a house in Farmersville for his eldest sister Corinne and her husband, Poland Burns. Hunt County authorities placed his three youngest siblings in Boles Children's Home, a Christian orphanage in Quinlan. After his mother died of endocarditis and pneumonia in 1941, he worked at a radio repair shop and at a combination general store, garage and gas station in Greenville. Murphy dropped out of school in fifth grade and got a job picking cotton for a dollar a day (equivalent to $21 in 2022) to help support his family he also became skilled with a rifle, hunting small game to help feed them. His father drifted in and out of the family's life and eventually deserted them. He grew up in northeastern Texas around the towns of Farmersville, Greenville, and Celeste, where he attended elementary school. Īs a child, Murphy was a loner with mood swings and an explosive temper. The Murphys were sharecroppers, of English, Irish, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and German descent. He was the seventh of twelve children born to Emmett Berry Murphy (1887–1976) and his wife Josie Bell Murphy ( née Killian 1891–1941). Murphy was born on 20 June 1925, in Kingston, a small rural community in Hunt County in northeastern Texas. He was interred with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, where his grave is one of the most visited. Murphy died in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971, shortly before his 46th birthday. In his last few years, he was plagued by money problems but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials because he did not want to set a bad example. He looked for solace in addictive sleeping pills. He bred quarter horses in California and Arizona, and became a regular participant in horse racing.īecause Murphy had what would today be described as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. Murphy was a fairly accomplished songwriter. He made guest appearances on celebrity television shows and starred in the series Whispering Smith. He played himself in the 1955 autobiographical film To Hell and Back, based on his 1949 memoirs of the same name, but most of his roles were in Westerns. Murphy fought at Montélimar and led his men on a successful assault at L'Omet quarry near Cleurie in northeastern France in October.Īfter the war, Murphy embarked on a 21-year acting career. He first saw action in the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily then in 1944 he participated in the Battle of Anzio, the liberation of Rome, and the invasion of southern France. Turned down initially for being underweight by the Army, Navy and the Marine Corps, he eventually was able to enlist in the Army. Murphy left school in fifth grade to pick cotton and find other work to help support his family his skill with a hunting rifle helped feed his family.Īfter the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy's older sister helped him to falsify documentation about his birthdate in order to meet the minimum age requirement for enlisting in the military. After his father abandoned them, his mother died when he was a teenager. Murphy was born into a large family of sharecroppers in Hunt County, Texas. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, before leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition. He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. Croix de Guerre with silver star (France)Īudie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – ) was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter.
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