Audie Murphy's Legacy

“I feel no qualms; no pride; no remorse,” he said in To Hell And Back, the 1949 autobiography he co-wrote with journalist and friend David McClure. Audie Murphy joined the Army at the tender age of 17. Once thought to be to small and underweight to be a soldier proved he was the hero, leader, and strategizer the military needed to win the war. Murphy was immediately sent to Italy where he got his first taste of war. In Sicily he began building his legacy as the ultimate soldier when he killed his first enemy combatants. two Italian officers. Murphy was awarded his first of many medals for this action. Matter of fact he was awarded every medal imaginable our nation could offer. Audie Murphy's size would prove to be beneficial when he could sneak up on enemy tanks and drop grenades into them. Soon Murphy would become a sergeant and lead his own soldiers into battle. In 1944 Company B moved into France to liberate it from Nazi rule.
Days after becoming a 2nd Lieutenant he led troops uphill against several dug in German nests sporting heavy machine guns.
While moving up the hill he lost many men but fought forward. During this time the German's raised a white flag and when his closest friend and father figure Private Tipton rose he was riddled with bullets from the surrendering Germans. In a rage and out of ammo he captured a German machine gun and killed all the soldiers in the nest. Then without breaking stride he ran up the hill and took out several more nests single handedly. For this he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and gave it to Private Tipton's
daughter. Murphy's legacy was established on the trek through France to Berlin in 1944. During this time he was grazed by a sniper bullet and hit by a mortar that would kill two of his men. Murphy's perseverance and determination sealed his legacy. While marching through snow he was shot by a sniper in the hip. All of his men dropped to the ground, Like a scene out of an action movie he raised his rifle with one hand and shot the sniper in the head saving his troops and himself. This put him out of commission for three months. Upon his return on January 26, Murphy and Company B found themselves on the outskirts of woods facing the German village of Holtzwihr. Here he took defensive positions against 12 German tanks and its infantry. He was only 20 years old at the time. Upon seeing the Germans he told Company B to open fire. Seeing that this was doing nothing to the 50+ troops reinforced by six tanks he told the outnumbered and out gunned troops to fall back. Unselfishly he stayed to give the troops time to retreat. After, unloading his gun on the advancing troops he took to a burning taking destroyer. Here he is credited for mowing down 50 Germans, while he was doing this a small group of Germans flanked him and came with in 10 yards of him which he then killed. The tanks seeing they had no more infantry retreated to the village. With the tanks retreating he used this time to rally his troops for a counter attack and to take the village which they did. Before the counter attack became however, a fellow soldier looked upon him and realized he was shot. He had taken a bullet to the leg while on the turret defending his troops. Even then, while injured he led his troops into battle. For this he was awarded the highest military award the Congressional Metal of Honor. In the later years of the war his commanding officers would not allow a Metal of Honor winner to die in battle so he was forced to remain behind. He would follow his orders until 1945 while his Company was under fire on the German Siegfried line he lead his troops out of a certain death situation. In total he won all of the U.S. awards and metals. 11 were for those of valor including the Metal of Honor. He would later received 5 metals of valor from Belgium and France with a total 37 metals.Murphy would win his first among many battles
Murphy would win his first among many battles