Audie L. Murphy

Most people don’t know who Audie Murphy is. He actually started out as a poor farmer but became a renowned war hero in World War II. Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor. He is now the most decorated war hero ever. After the war, he became a well-known movie star and starred in over 44 movies. Audie even played himself in the movie To Hell and Back.

Audie L. Murphy was born in 1924 in Kingston, Texas. He had to pick cotton and hunt small game to feed his family. His family was very poor, and his father went away and his mother died before he was 18. When the U.S. entered WWII, Audie immediately tried to enlist. First, he tried to enlist in the Marines, but he was too small; then he tried to enlist in the Army Paratroopers, but again he was too small. Finally, he got accepted in the regular Army. After all his training, he was sent to North Africa to join Bravo Company as a private.

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After his time in North Africa, his company was sent to Sicily, Italy. During those battles, Audie was promoted to corporal. In Salerino, while Audie was leading a night patrol, his squad came upon a patrol of Germans. After fighting their way through them, they hid in a rock quarry and fought off the remaining Germans. For Audie’s actions, he was promoted to sergeant. In another battle, Audie blew up a tank all by himself and was awarded the Bronze Star. On a beach in southern France, Audie’s company was pinned down due to heavy German machine-gun fire, so Audie and a friend found a 30-caliber machine gun and started firing at the Germans. For Audie’s action, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

After Audie got to take command of his unit, his unit came upon a huge group of Germans with over 20 tanks and over 250 soldiers. Audie called in artillery fire, but it did not affect the Germans. Audie’s entire unit fell back, but Audie saw a burned-out tank destroyer and climbed on top of it. For about the next hour Audie fired on the Germans, killing most of them until his ammo was exhausted. For Audie Murphy’s actions, he received the Medal of Honor.

After the war, Audie was invited to Hollywood by James Cagney, a famous actor. Audie did not have very much money and had to sleep on a gym floor. In 1950, Audie got his first starring role in the film Bad Boy. In 1950 he also got a contract with Universal-International. Audie starred in more than 26 films over the next 15 years. In 1955, Audie played himself in the biography film To Hell and Back, even though he didn’t really want to. The film was the highest- grossing film until the movie Jaws surpassed it in 1975.

In Audie’s 25-year career in Hollywood, he starred in over 44 movies. Audie also filmed a 25-episode TV series, Whispering Smith. This was cancelled after 20 episodes for being too violent. In Audie’s movie career, he made about $3,000,000. Audie also loved to gamble and was a great poker player. He even owned a ranch outside of Dallas, Texas.

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Audie actually wrote some poetry and was pretty successful as a songwriter. He usually teamed up with famous composers such as Guy Mitchell. Some of his songs were recorded by Dean Martin and Jimmy Bryant. Audie’s two biggest hits were Shutters and Boards and When the Wind Blows in Chicago. His album The Last of the Love Singers is currently being released by RCA.

After the war, Audie suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He could not sleep, so he had to take sleeping pills. Consequently he became addicted to the sleeping pills he had to take. He had to lock himself in a motel room and stop taking the pills. Audie decided to call the government, and he asked them to do more research on PTSD to help wounded military vets. Sadly, in 1971 Audie Murphy’s private plane crashed into a mountain in Virginia. Audie was 46 years old. Later he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. His grave is the second most visited there after President Kennedy’s.

Some obstacles that Audie had to overcome were when he tried to join the military; he got turned down multiple times because he was small. Audie also had to overcome obstacles in Hollywood; he was turned down many times because he had no acting experience. For this Audie had to sleep on a gym floor. Before the war, Audie had to take care of all his brothers and sisters, because his mother died and his father went away. After the war, Audie had to overcome his suffering of PTSD.

Audie Murphy is my hero because he showed determination when he tried his hardest to join the military even though he was small. He won the Medal of Honor, and after the war he was a movie star even though he had no acting experience. Audie in his early acting career had to sleep on a gym floor until he starred in his first movies. Audie Murphy is my hero because he started out as a poor farmer to become the most decorated war hero ever!

Fun Facts:
• Audie Murphy earned about $3,000,000 in his acting career
• When he was 17 he was 5’5”, 110 pounds
• Audie Murphy earned the Purple Heart three times
• Audie was the seventh of 12 children
• He was 46 when he died

Medal List:
Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross
Silver Star
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Outstanding civilian Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
Distinguished Unit Emblem
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Armed Forces Reserve Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Marksmanship Badge
Expert Marksmanship Badge
French Fourragere
French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier
French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star
French Croix de Guerre with Palm
Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm
Medal of Liberated France