The Kid From Texas

The son of a Texas sharecropper, Audie was the seventh of twelve children.  At age 12, his father, never a steady provider, picked up and left.   Audie's mother, exhausted by overwork, poverty, and self sacrifice, died when Audie was 16.

It was 1941, Europe was at war, and America was to be suddenly involved in the conflict.  When Audie heard the news of Pearl Harbor, he tried to join up, first in the Marines, then the paratroopers.  Undersized and underage, he ultimately succeeded in joining the United States Infantry.

Making Of A Hero

In basic training, Audie earned the nickname "Baby" - he still hadn't started to shave - but he soon proved himself a man among men.  Training under the brutal Texas summer sun, he excelled at all things military, volunteering for extra time on the machine gun range whenever he could.   After completing advanced infantry training in Maryland, Audie was sent to Algeria, close to Tunisia where American forces were just bringing the North African campaign to a close.

Although Audie saw no action in North Africa, the combat training he received there - grueling thirty mile marches and crawling under live machine gun fire - would stand him in good stead in the rugged terrain of Sicily and Italy.

On July 10, 1943, Audie's unit, the 15th Infantry, landed at Licata in southern Sicily.  On that very day, Audie saw one of his comrades being blown up by an artillery burst.  It was the first American casualty he was to witness, but by no means the last.

Audie's own baptism of fire came near the town of Canicatti.   Spotting two Italian officers on horseback, he challenged them.  When they refused to surrender, he fired two shots, both fatal.  Speaking of it later, Audie said, "Now I have shed my first blood. I feel no qualms, no pride, no remorse. There is only a weary indifference that will follow me throughout the war."

Medals For Valor

At Anzio, which Bill Mauldin called "that constant hellish nightmare that lasted for five months," Audie and his platoon were under constant artillery bombardment.  They still managed to give as good as they got, destroying enemy tanks and personnel.  It was during this campaign that he received his first medal for valor, the Bronze Star.

As the 15th Infantry advance across Italy, France, and Germany, Audie managed to stay in the thick of the fray.  Even though he was seriously wounded on several occasions, he left the hospital early and rejoined his men.  More medals followed: the Combat Infantryman Badge, a first Oak Leaf Cluster on the Bronze Star, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Silver Star, to be followed by an Oak Leaf Cluster and three Purple Hearts.

While still convalescing from a severe hip wound, Audie earned the nation's highest tribute.  On January 26, 1945, Audie's company, now depleted to 18 men, supported by two tank destroyers, encountered six Tiger tanks accompanied by 250 German infantrymen.  One tank destroyer got trapped in a ditch.  The other TD received a direct hit, killing the commander and gunner.  Order his men back to cover, Audie commandeered the .50 caliber machine gun on the burning TD.  While directing American artillery over his field telephone, he sprayed the German tanks with deadly fire, killing or wounding approximately 50 men.  Shells bursting and bullets ricocheting all around him, Audie continued to fire until the enemy force broke and ran.   Moments after he jumped off the burning TD, it exploded.

For his incredible act of bravery and daring, Audie Murphy received the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Audie's decorations also included the Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star, the Croix de Guerre with Palm, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm.  It is quite consistent with the nature of this man that, in his autobiography "To Hell and Back," Audie never once mentioned receiving any medals.

    "I never like being called the 'most decorated' soldier.  There were so many guys who should have gotten medals and never did - guys who were killed."  -- Audie Murphy

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