Audie Murphy (1925–1971) was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, receiving every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Coming from a poor sharecropping family of Irish descent in Texas, he served in nine World War II campaigns, receiving the Medal of Honor after single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France. After the war, he appeared in more than forty feature films, mostly westerns; his most successful film was To Hell and Back (1955), based on his war memoirs. During the Korean War, Murphy was commissioned as an officer in the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas National Guard. Possessing a natural gift for rhyme, he collaborated on numerous songs between 1962 and 1970. He suffered from what would today be termed posttraumatic stress disorder, and was plagued by money problems in the last few years of his life, but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials to avoid setting a bad example. Murphy died in a plane crash in Virginia, and was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. (Full article...)
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