What do you know about Audie Murphy?

2014-06-27T11:42:06-04:00

Want to see how much the rallypoint community knows about Audie Murphy. If you are a member of the SAMC feel free to share your board experience.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 27 at 2014 11:45 AM

2014-06-27T11:45:35-04:00

Most decorated soldier in the European theater, if not all of WWII

Battlefield commission

MOH for firing a ma-deuce atop a burning tank as cover fire to get his soldiers to safety

Starred in his own bio-pic, "To Hell and Back" along with a few other movies.

Hasbro came out with a commemorative 12" GI Joe with his likeness as part of their MOH series

That's all I know w/o googling

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jun 27 at 2014 12:33 PM

2014-06-27T12:33:48-04:00

He was one heck of a badass according to all the reports!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 27 at 2014 12:59 PM

2014-06-27T12:59:29-04:00

Everything MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca stated and Audie was a Texan!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 27 at 2014 1:22 PM

2014-06-27T13:22:30-04:00

He's related to my dad's step dad. I think he was his cousin. I was actually born with the last name Murphy.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 27 at 2014 10:30 PM

2014-06-27T22:30:01-04:00

His grave site is the second most visited in Arlington national cemetery. The first one is JFK's.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Sep 16 at 2014 5:07 PM

2014-09-16T17:07:06-04:00

He was working/flopping at a YMCA before he was recognized by a Hollywood higher up that convinced him to do To Hell and Back. He was a thrill seeker, often getting into trouble with gambling. He slept with a pistol under his pillow and struggled with PTSD all his life. He was a very human being.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 16 at 2014 5:52 PM

2014-09-16T17:52:52-04:00

After WWII he served in the Texas Army National Guard. We have a statue of him outside our RTI building on Camp Mabry in Austin.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Sep 16 at 2014 5:57 PM

2014-09-16T17:57:17-04:00

He was tiny...even compared to 1940's standards (a common consequence of people from his generation from not getting proper nutrition during the Depression). He was disqualified from both the Marines and Navy for not meeting minimum weight standards....and the Army barely took him....

Response by SSG Steven Borders made Sep 17 at 2014 8:49 AM

2014-09-17T08:49:54-04:00

Since I was a Dog Face Solider "3ID" we had to know all his info for our boards. Let me tell you he did a lot of stuff. Movie star, song writer, most decorated, bred horses etc..

Response by Capt Lance Gallardo made Sep 17 at 2014 10:56 AM

2014-09-17T10:56:55-04:00

I met him as a Toddler, at the Local American Legion in Norco/Corona, California with my grandfather (a WWII Navy combat vet, USS Gridley, San Diego and Guam). Audie was a wonderful man but an alcoholic like my grandfather dealing with all the terrible things he had seen and done in WWII. He had severe PTSD and what we now know and call "Moral Injury." His life story is so much more interesting than what we know from his movies. Did you know he was (allegedly) beaten up by Howard Hughes' bodyguards after penetrating a layer or two of Hughes home security forces? They were dating the same woman (Actress Jean Peters) and Audie decided on some direct action to deal with the mega rich guy that was taking his girlfriend from him. He had a burnt in sense of right and wrong that stayed with him until he died. I often wonder how growing up poor in Texas informed his character. His widow volunteered at our local VA here in Sepulveda, California for years until passing away within the last decade.

Response by SSG Robert Burns made Sep 17 at 2014 11:23 AM

2014-09-17T11:23:30-04:00

I know he doesn't have a RP account....so there's that.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2014 11:04 PM

2014-09-17T23:04:05-04:00

Fourth time GO for the board. I've sponsored a few others, and even had to get one through on his fourth time. It's not the board, or the club, its the people on the board.

I think the club, and induction to the club, should be about the betterment of the NCO Corps.

On many board occasions, it seems the board members, typically BDE CSMs (not all SAMC or SGT Morales members) expect perfection. And, I've seen board members expect a SGT to know as much as a SFC.

The candidate just needs to prove themselves to the board members that he/she is a credible NCO that is always eager to outdo themselves and others AND better the team. So what if one of their Soldiers wants to reclass (most recent board I sat in on) and the NCO supports it. Why we spent 15 minutes on that, I don't know.

When candidates experience boards of that nature, it discourages others.

By no means, should the selection process be easy, just apply the fifth principle.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2014 6:51 AM

2014-09-18T06:51:06-04:00

1SG Private RallyPoint Member. He was so famous that the Germans named a reputedly aggressive mobile home bed after him => The Audi Murphy Bed . . .

https://mobile.twitter.com/engr_andy/status/ [login to see] 4445184

Seriously, though, the San Antonio TX Veterans Admin Hospital is named after him . . .

https://www.211texas.org/zf/profile/service/id/1334164

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2014 6:00 PM

2014-09-18T18:00:20-04:00

Here are some pictures I took at the memorial near the site where his plain crashed. The crash happened not far from where I grew up. Last fall, I walked up the mountain to see this.