Audie Murphy the most decorated soldier in WW2

I meant to post this on his birthday on May 28th. I am sure a lot of you know of him but for those that don't, here is his story.
He also portrayed himself in the move "To Hell and Back" .

Seeking an escape from that life in 1942, he looked to the Marines. War had just been declared and, like so many other young men, Murphy lied about his age in his attempt to enlist. But it was not his age that kept him out of the Marines; it was his size. Not tall enough to meet the minimum requirements, he tried to enlist in the paratroopers, but again was denied entrance. Despondent, he chose the infantry.

www.arlingtoncemetery.mil...

a reply to: nighthawk1954

Death of a hero and someone any nation would have been extremely proud of. My parents rated him as an actor and enjoyed several of his films, like them , he is gone also.

a reply to: nighthawk1954

I was a Veterans Advocate for 16 years here in Florida. I had a case come across my desk (claim for PTSD) that had a guy with seven Purple hearts, five Bronze Stars with four attached V's (for Valor) and two Silver Stars. By any measure this guy was a bona fide hero. Heck, when we went to his hearing the one Hearing Board Member shook his hand and proclaimed , "It's so rare that we get a real hero in our offices."

So what does this have to do with Audey?

I asked the petitioner why he didn't get a Medal of Honor for his obvious achievements (all independently and meticulously documented by fellow survivors). He appeared to be at least as qualified as Murphy. This gent went through North Africa, Italy, Normandy, France and part of Germany accumulating medals and wounds like catching rain in a swimming pool.

So he told me Murphy and his MOH were BS!

He related while in France during WWII there were hero hospitals. They were dedicated to the recovery of the most valiant and seriously wounded. Murphy came in on a PR tour to rouse their spirits at the hospital my client was staying.

Audey was BOOED and chased from the facility by the patients!!

Why, you say?

All of those banged up heroes knew that the Germans were really good at being soldiers. If you read the MOH citation for Murphy surprisingly he was ALONE when he beat back the Krauts. www.cmohs.org...

Those battered stalwarts KNEW he could not have survived his tale. He was BS from foot to scalp.

I was stunned but this dude was certified up and down and had a memory that would not quit.

History will eventually discard this MOH as being a political machination to create a hero to sell War Bonds or it will become another factoid to be consumed as truth by the masses.

a reply to: largo

Friend of the family was in Korea in one battle against the Chinese that involved hand to hand combat he went through 4 machine gun barrels but there was no medal for Kevin because he was the only person to survive in his company,you dont get cited if no one is left alive to do it

a reply to: nighthawk1954

G, day mate. Audie Murphy. Grew up watching his movies. Heck I grew up watching westerns.
Audie certainly was one heck of a troopie. I would have liked to have met both him and Jimmy Stewart.
GOD rest both their souls

a reply to: largo
WOW I did not know that ..thanks for the info!

Yeah it's getting crazy a buddie of mine...30 Marine retired 1 silver star,1 bronze star 3 purple hearts, just received a letter a month ago about a reduction in his pension.

a reply to: nighthawk1954

I lost all respect for your government during the shutdown when charities has to fly back your dead from Afghanistan.

a reply to: nighthawk1954

I was actually going to write a thread on him but did a search to see if anyone else had and here I am. I'll just add to this one, if you don't mind. I read about Audie Murphy not long ago. Some of the stuff he did could be right out of a war movie, like the time he stood on top of a burning tank, exposed from his ankles to the top of his ankles, and held off the enemy. That took some guts.

ETA: Rambo had nothing on him.

Different day, different time. My Grandfather had an interesting life, in that War too. Grandad looked like a butched up version of Roseanne. Audie was quite photogenic. I'm taking nothing away from Audie. Bold, "intrepid" even, man. There were many though.