Audie Murphy’s life was anything but ordinary. Audie Murphy went from
being an orphaned son of Texas sharecroppers to the most decorated soldier of
World War II, a popular western movie actor, Writer, and a country music
songwriter.
Murphy was born on June 20, 1924 near Kingston, TX from a family of
cotton farmers. With the United States at war Murphy tried to enlist in the
Marines and was denied because of his small stature. Murphy was successful in
enlisting in the Army as an infantryman on June 30, 1942. Murphy distinguished
himself in combat on many different occasions thus earning him a battle field
commission to second lieutenant, along with over thirty-two medals, two dozen
of them for valor including the Congressional Medal of Honor and the
Distinguished Service Cross. Joining the active duty Army with the rank of
Private, Murphy was discharged from active duty as a first lieutenant in
September 1945. Staff Sergeant being the highest enlisted rank achieved
prior to his commission.
Discharged from Texas National Guard at the rank of Major, Murphy went
onto writing an autobiography titled “To Hell and Back”. He starred in 44 films,
most of them being country westerns. The most notable film being his motion
picture version of “To Hell and Back” which he played himself. On top of all his
success Murphy wrote two famous country songs “Shutters and Boards” and
“When the Wind Blows in Chicago” along with ten other songs.
At the age of 46 years old, Audie Murphy died on May 28, 1971 near
Roanoke, Va. in a plane crash. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
with full military honors. Medal of Honor recipients receive a tombstone
decorated with a gold leaf, knowing this Murphy had requested his tombstone to
be plain and inconspicuous. His tombstone is the second most visited gravesite,
second only to President John F. Kennedy’s gravesite.
Though he...