Audie Murphy | |
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 Murphy wearing the U.S. Army khaki "Class A" (tropical service) uniform with full-size medals, 1948 | |
| Born | (1925-06-20)20 June 1925[1][ALM 1] Kingston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | 28 May 1971(1971-05-28) (aged 45) 14 nautical miles northwest ofRoanoke, Virginia, U.S.[ALM 2] |
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| Allegiance | United States |
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| Website | audiemurphy |
Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971)[1] was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier ofWorld War II,[4] and has been described as the most highly decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history.[5][6] He received every military combat award for valor available from theUnited States Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received theMedal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at age 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at theColmar Pocket in France in January 1945, before leading a successful counterattack while wounded.
Murphy was born into a large family ofsharecroppers inHunt County, Texas. After his father abandoned them, his mother died when he was a teenager. Murphy left school in fifth grade to pick cotton and find other work to help support his family; his skill with a hunting rifle helped feed his family.
After theattack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy's older sister helped him to falsify documentation about his birthdate in order to meet the minimum age for enlisting in the military. Turned down initially for being underweight by theArmy,Navy, and theMarine Corps, he eventually was able to enlist in the Army. He first saw action in the 1943Allied invasion of Sicily; then in 1944 he participated in theBattle of Anzio, the liberation of Rome, and theinvasion of southern France. Murphy fought atMontélimar and led his men on a successful assault at L'Omet quarry nearCleurie in northeastern France in October. Despite suffering from multiple illnesses and wounds throughout his service, Murphy became one of the most praised and decorated soldiers of World War II.[7] He is credited with killing 241 enemy soldiers.[8][9]
After the war, Murphy embarked on a 21-year acting career. He played himself in the 1955 autobiographical filmTo Hell and Back, based on his1949 memoirs of the same name, but most of his roles were inWesterns. He made guest appearances on celebrity television shows and starred in the seriesWhispering Smith. Murphy was a fairly accomplished songwriter. He bredquarter horses in California and Arizona, and became a regular participant in horse racing.
Because Murphy had what would today be described aspost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), then known as "battle fatigue", he slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. He looked for solace in addictive sleeping pills. In his last few years, he was plagued by money problems but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials because he did not want to set a bad example. Murphy died in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971, shortly before his 46th birthday. He was interred with military honors atArlington National Cemetery.
Murphy was born on 20 June 1925, inKingston, a small rural community inHunt County in northeasternTexas.[1][ALM 1] He was the seventh of twelve children born to Emmett Berry Murphy (1887–1976) and his wife Josie Bell Murphy (née Killian; 1891–1941). The Murphys weresharecroppers, of English, Irish, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and German descent.[14][15][16] Although Murphy's birth date is listed as 1924 in his enlistment papers, his biographer David A. Smith concluded that he was born in 1925, based on statements made by hisTo Hell and Back co-author David McClure, his California driver's license, and by Murphy himself.[17]
As a child, Murphy was a loner with mood swings and an explosive temper.[18] He grew up in northeastern Texas around the towns ofFarmersville,Greenville, andCeleste, where he attended elementary school.[19] His father drifted in and out of the family's life and eventually deserted them. Murphy dropped out of school in fifth grade and got a job picking cotton for a dollar a day (equivalent to $23 in 2024) to help support his family; he also became skilled with a rifle, hunting small game to help feed them. After his mother died ofendocarditis andpneumonia[20] in 1941, he worked at a radio repair shop and at a combination general store, garage and gas station in Greenville.[21] Hunt County authorities placed his three youngest siblings in Boles Children's Home,[22] a Christian orphanage inQuinlan. After the war, he bought a house in Farmersville for his eldest sister Corinne and her husband, Poland Burns. His other siblings briefly shared the home.[23]
The loss of his mother stayed with Murphy throughout his life. He later stated:
She died when I was sixteen. She had the most beautiful hair I've ever seen. It reached almost to the floor. She rarely talked; and always seemed to be searching for something. What it was I don't know. We didn't discuss our feelings. But when she passed away, she took something of me with her. It seems I've been searching for it ever since.[24]
After the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he attempted to enlist in the U.S. military,[21] but the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps all turned him down for being underweight and underage. After his sister provided anaffidavit that falsified his birth date by a year, he was accepted by the U.S. Army on 30 June 1942.[ALM 1][ALM 3] According to his biographer David A. Smith, Murphy acknowledged his birth date was falsified at his enlistment in a 1950 interview with theAustin Statesman: "'The doctor back home couldn't remember exactly when I was born,' he said with a smile, 'so I was 18.'"[29]
After basic training atCamp Wolters,[30] he was sent toFort Meade for advanced infantry training.[31] During basic training, he earned theMarksman Badge with Rifle Component Bar andExpert Badge with Bayonet Component Bar.[32]
Murphy was shipped toCasablanca inFrench Morocco on 20 February 1943. He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion,15th Infantry Regiment,3rd Infantry Division, which trained under the command of Major GeneralLucian Truscott.[33][34] After the 13 May surrender of theAxis forces inFrench Tunisia,[35] the division was put in charge of the prisoners.[36] He participated as a platoon messenger with his division at Arzew in Algeria in rigorous training for theAllied assault landings in Sicily.[37] Murphy was promoted toprivate first class on 7 May andcorporal on 15 July.[38][39]
When the 3rd Infantry landed atLicata, Sicily, on 10 July, Murphy was a divisionrunner.[40][41] On a scouting patrol, he killed two fleeing Italian officers nearCanicattì.[42] Sidelined with illness for a week when Company B arrived inPalermo on 20 July,[43] he rejoined them when they were assigned to a hillside location protecting a machine-gun emplacement, while the rest of the 3rd Infantry Division fought atSan Fratello en route to the Allied capture of the transit port ofMessina.[44]
Murphy participated inOperation Avalanche, the September 1943 mainlandSalerno landing atBattipaglia.[45] While on a scouting party along theVolturno river, he and two other soldiers were ambushed; German machine gun fire killed one soldier. Murphy and the other survivor responded by killing five Germans with hand grenades and machine gun fire.[46] While taking part in the October Allied assault on theVolturno Line,[45][47] nearMignano Monte Lungo Hill 193, he and his company repelled an attack by seven German soldiers, killing three and taking four prisoner.[48] Murphy was promoted tosergeant on 13 December.[49]
In January 1944, Murphy was promoted tostaff sergeant.[49] He was hospitalized in Naples withmalaria on 21 January and was unable to participate in the initial landing at theAnzio beachhead.[50] He returned on 29 January and participated in theFirst Battle of Cisterna,[51][52] and was made a platoon sergeant in Company B following the battle.[53] He returned with the 3rd Division to Anzio, where they remained for four months.[54] Taking shelter from the weather in an abandoned farmhouse on 2 March, Murphy and his platoon killed the crew of a passing German tank.[55] He then crawled out alone close enough to destroy the tank with rifle grenades, for which he received theBronze Star with"V" device.[56][57]
Murphy continued to make scouting patrols to take German prisoners before being hospitalized for a week on 13 March with a second bout of malaria. Sixty-one infantry officers and enlisted men of Company B, 15th Infantry, including Murphy, were awarded theCombat Infantryman Badge on 8 May.[58]
Murphy was awarded aBronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Bronze Star.[59][60] American forces liberated Rome on 4 June, and Murphy remained bivouacked in Rome with his platoon throughout July.[61]
During the first wave of the Allied invasion ofsouthern France, Murphy received theDistinguished Service Cross[62][63] for action taken on 15 August 1944.[64] After landing on Yellow Beach nearRamatuelle,[65] Murphy's platoon was making its way through a vineyard when the men were attacked by German soldiers. He retrieved a machine gun that had been detached from the squad and returned fire at the German soldiers, killing two and wounding one.[65] Two Germans exited a house about 100 yards (91 m) away and appeared to surrender; when Murphy's best friend responded, they shot and killed him. Murphy advanced alone on the house under direct fire. He killed six, wounded two and took 11 prisoners.[65]
Murphy was with the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment during the 27–28 August offensive atMontélimar that secured the area from the Germans.[64][66] Along with the other soldiers who took part in the action, he received thePresidential Unit Citation.[67]
Murphy's firstPurple Heart was for a heel wound received in a mortar shell blast on 15 September 1944 in northeastern France.[68][69][70] His firstSilver Star came after he killed four and wounded three at a German machine gun position on 2 October at L'Omet quarry in theCleurie valley.[62] Three days later, Murphy crawled alone towards the Germans at L'Omet, carrying anSCR-536 radio and directing his men for an hour while the Germans fired directly at him. When his men finally took the hill, 15 Germans had been killed and 35 wounded. Murphy's actions earned him a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Silver Star.[71] He was awarded abattlefield commission to second lieutenant on 14 October, which elevated him to platoon leader.[72] While en route toBrouvelieures on 26 October, the 3rd Platoon of Company B was attacked by a German sniper group. Murphy captured two before being shot in the hip by a sniper; he returned fire and shot the sniper between the eyes. At the 3rd General Hospital atAix-en-Provence,[73] the removal ofgangrene from the wound caused partial loss of his hip muscle and kept him out of combat until January.[62] Murphy received his first Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Purple Heart for this injury.[74][75]
TheColmar Pocket, 850 square miles (2,200 km2) in theVosges Mountains, had been held by German troops since November 1944.[76] On 14 January 1945, Murphy rejoined his platoon, which had been moved to the Colmar area in December.[77] He moved with the 3rd Division on 24 January to the town ofHoltzwihr, where they faced a strong German counterattack.[78] He was wounded in both legs, for which he received a second Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Purple Heart.[79] As the company awaited reinforcements on 26 January, he was made commander of Company B.[80] At about 2pm that afternoon, German troops and tanks counterattacked and Murphy ordered his company to withdraw into prepared positions. The Germans scored a direct hit on anM10 tank destroyer which was stationed near Murphy's company command post, setting it alight and forcing the crew to abandon it.[81] Murphy remained alone at his post, shooting hisM1 carbine and directing artillery fire via his field radio, while the Germans aimed fire directly at his position.[82] Murphy mounted the abandoned, burning tank destroyer and began firing its.50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing a squad crawling through a ditch towards him.[83] For an hour, Murphy stood on the flaming tank destroyer, returning German fire from foot soldiers and advancing tanks, and killing or wounding 50 Germans. He sustained a leg wound during his stand, and stopped only after he ran out of ammunition. Murphy rejoined his men, disregarding his own injury, and led them back to repel the Germans. Murphy insisted on remaining with his men while his wounds were treated.[81]
For his actions that day, Murphy was awarded theMedal of Honor.[84] The 3rd Infantry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions at the Colmar Pocket, giving Murphy a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for the emblem.[85]
On 16 February, Murphy was promoted to first lieutenant[86] and was awarded theLegion of Merit for his service from 22 January 1944 to 18 February 1945.[87] He was moved from the front lines to Regimental Headquarters and made a liaison officer.[88]
The United States additionally honored Murphy's war contributions with theAmerican Campaign Medal,[89] theEuropean–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal witharrowhead device and 9campaign stars, theWorld War II Victory Medal,[89] and theArmy of Occupation Medal withGermany Clasp.[57][89] France recognized his service with theFrench Legion of Honor –Grade of Chevalier,[90] theFrench Croix de guerre with Silver Star,[91] the French Croix de guerre with Palm,[92] theFrench Liberation Medal[57][89] and theFrench Fourragère in Colors of theCroix de guerre,[57] which was authorized for all members of the 3rd Infantry Division who fought in France during World War II. Belgium awarded Murphy theBelgian Croix de guerre with 1940 Palm.[92]
Brigadier General Ralph B. Lovett and Lieutenant Colonel Hallet D. Edson recommended Murphy for the Medal of Honor.[93][94] NearSalzburg, Austria, on 2 June 1945,[95] Lieutenant GeneralA.M. Patch[23] presented Murphy with the Medal of Honor and Legion of Merit for his actions at Holtzwihr. When asked after the war why he had seized the machine gun and taken on an entire company of German infantry, he replied, "They were killing my friends".[96]
Murphy received every U.S. military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army for his World War II service.[ALM 4]
Inquiries were made through official channels about the prospect of Murphy attendingWest Point upon his return to the United States, but he never enrolled.[13][99] According to author Don Graham, Murphy suggested the idea and then dropped it, possibly when he realized the extent of academic preparation needed to pass the entrance exam.[100]
Murphy was one of several military personnel who received orders on 8 June 1945 to report toFort Sam Houston inSan Antonio, Texas, for temporary duty and reassignment.[13][99] Upon arrival on 13 June, he was one of four assigned to Fort Sam Houston Army Ground & Services Redistribution Station and sent home for 30 days of recuperation, with permission to travel anywhere within the United States during that period.[13] While on leave, Murphy was feted with parades, banquets, and speeches.[101] He received a belatedGood Conduct Medal on 21 August.[102]
He was discharged with the rank of first lieutenant at a 50 percent disability classification on 21 September and transferred to the Officers' Reserve Corps.[ALM 5]
After his military service, Murphy was plagued with insomnia and bouts of depression, and he slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow.[104][105] A post-service medical examination on 17 June 1947 revealed symptoms of headaches, vomiting, and nightmares about the war. His medical records indicated that he took sleeping pills to help prevent nightmares.[106] During the mid-1960s, he recognized his dependence on the sedativePlacidyl, and locked himself alone in a hotel room for a week to successfully break the addiction.[23] Post-traumatic stress levels exacerbated his innate moodiness,[18] and surfaced in episodes that friends and professional colleagues found alarming.[107] His first wife,Dixie Wanda Hendrix, claimed he once held her at gunpoint.[108] She witnessed her husband being guilt-ridden and tearful overnewsreel footage of German war orphans.[109] Murphy briefly found a creative stress outlet in writing poetry after his Army discharge. His poem "The Crosses Grow on Anzio" appeared in his bookTo Hell and Back,[110] but was attributed to the fictitious character Kerrigan.[111]
To draw attention to the problems of returningKorean War andVietnam War veterans, Murphy spoke out candidly about his own problems withpost-traumatic stress disorder.[112] It was known during Murphy's lifetime as "battle fatigue" and "shell shock", terminology that dated back to World War I. He called on the government to give increased consideration and study to the emotional impact of combat experiences, and to extend health care benefits to war veterans.[113][114] As a result of legislation introduced by U.S. CongressmanOlin Teague five months after Murphy's death in 1971, theAudie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital[115] in San Antonio, now a part of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, was dedicated in 1973.[116][117]
At the end of World War II, the36th Infantry Division reverted to state control as part of theTexas Army National Guard,[118] and Murphy's friends, Major General H. Miller Ainsworth and Brigadier General Carl L. Phinney, were the 36th's commander and deputy commander respectively. After the 25 June 1950 commencement of the Korean War, Murphy began a second military career and was commissioned as a captain in the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas Army National Guard.[119][120] He drilled new recruits in the summer training camps, and granted the Guard permission to use his name and image in recruiting materials.[121] Although he wanted to join the fighting and juggled training activities with his film career, the 36th Infantry Division was never sent to Korea.[122][123]
At his request, he transferred to inactive status on 1 October 1951 because of his film commitments withMGM Studios, and returned to active status in 1955. Murphy was promoted to the rank ofmajor by the Texas Army National Guard in 1956 and returned to inactive status in 1957.[124] In 1969, his official separation from the Guard transferred him to the United States Army Reserve.[125] He remained with the USAR until his transfer to the Retired Reserve later in 1969.[126]
During an acting career spanning from 1948 to 1969, Murphy made more than 40 feature films and one television series.[ALM 6] When actor and producerJames Cagney saw the 16 July 1945 issue ofLife magazine depicting Murphy as the "most decorated soldier",[98] he brought him to Hollywood. Cagney and his brother William signed him as a contract player for their production company and gave him training in acting, voice and dance. They never cast Murphy in a movie and a personal disagreement ended the association in 1947.[128] Murphy later worked with acting coachEstelle Harman and honed his diction by reciting dialogue fromWilliam Shakespeare andWilliam Saroyan.[129]
Murphy moved into Terry Hunt's Athletic Club in Hollywood where he lived until 1948.[130][131] Hollywood writer David "Spec" McClure befriended Murphy, collaborating with him on Murphy's 1949 bookTo Hell and Back.[132] McClure used his connections to get a $500 (equivalent to $7,000 in 2024) bit part inTexas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948) for Murphy.[133] He had been dating actressWanda Hendrix since 1946.[134] Her talent agent got him a bit part in theAlan Ladd filmBeyond Glory directed byJohn Farrow.[135] His 1949 filmBad Boy gave him his first leading role.[136] The film's financial backers refused to bankroll the project unless Murphy was given the lead;[137] thus,Allied Artists put aside their reservations about using an inexperienced actor and gave him the starring role.[138]
Universal Studios signed Murphy to a seven-yearstudio contract at $2,500 a week (equivalent to $32,700 in 2024).[139][140] His first film for them was asBilly the Kid inThe Kid from Texas in 1950. He wrapped up that year makingSierra starring Wanda Hendrix, who by that time had become his wife,[141] andKansas Raiders as outlawJesse James. Universal lent him toMGM in 1951 at a salary of $25,000[142] to play the lead of The Youth[ALM 7] inThe Red Badge of Courage, directed byJohn Huston.[144] Murphy and Huston worked together again in the 1960 filmThe Unforgiven.[145]
The only film Murphy made in 1952 wasThe Duel at Silver Creek with directorDon Siegel. Murphy worked with Siegel one more time in 1958 forThe Gun Runners. In 1953, he starred inFrederick de Cordova'sColumn South,[146] and played Jim Harvey inNathan Juran'sTumbleweed, an adaptation of the Kenneth Perkins novelThree Were Renegades.[147][148] Director Nathan Juran also directedGunsmoke andDrums Across the River.[149]George Marshall directed Murphy in the 1954Destry, a remake ofDestry Rides Again, based on a character created by authorMax Brand.[150]
Although Murphy was initially reluctant to appear as himself inTo Hell and Back, the 1955 adaptation of his book directed byJesse Hibbs, he eventually agreed;[151] it became the biggest hit in the history of Universal Studios at the time.[152][153] To help publicize the release of the film, he made guest appearances on television shows such asWhat's My Line?,[ALM 8]Toast of the Town,[154] andColgate Comedy Hour.[ALM 9] The Hibbs-Murphy team proved so successful inTo Hell and Back[155] that the two worked together on five subsequent films. The partnership resulted in Murphy appearing as John Phillip Clum in the 1956 westernWalk the Proud Land,[156] and the non-westernsJoe Butterfly[157] andWorld in My Corner. They worked together for the last time in the 1958 westernRide a Crooked Trail.[158]
Joseph L. Mankiewicz hired Murphy to play the titular role[ALM 10] in the 1958 filmThe Quiet American.[160] Murphy formed a partnership withHarry Joe Brown to make three films, starting withThe Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957). The partnership fell into disagreement over the remaining two projects, and Brown filed suit against Murphy.[161]
In 1957 Murphy was cast as The Utica Kid along withJames Stewart andDan Duryea in the westernNight Passage.[162]
Murphy was featured in three westerns in 1959: he starred oppositeSandra Dee inThe Wild and the Innocent,[163] collaborated as an uncredited co-producer withWalter Mirisch on the black and whiteCast a Long Shadow, and performed as a hired killer inNo Name on the Bullet, a film that was well received by critics.[164]Thelma Ritter was his costar in the 1960Startime television episode "The Man".[165] During the early 1960s, Murphy donated his time and otherwise lent his name and image for three episodes ofThe Big Picture television series produced by the United States Army. He received the 1960Outstanding Civilian Service Medal for his cooperation in the episodeBroken Bridge, which featured his visits to military installations in Germany, Italy, Turkey and the U.S. state ofNew Mexico to showcase the military's latest weaponry.[166][167]
WriterClair Huffaker wrote the 1961 screenplays for Murphy's filmsSeven Ways from Sundown andPosse from Hell.[168] Willard W. Willingham and his wife Mary Willingham befriended Murphy in his early days in Hollywood and worked with him on a number of projects.[169][170][171]
Willard was a producer on Murphy's 1961 television seriesWhispering Smith,[172] and co-wrote the screenplay forBattle at Bloody Beach that year.[173] He collaborated onBullet for a Badman[174] in 1964 andArizona Raiders in 1965.[175] The Willinghams as a team wrote the screenplay forGunpoint[176] as well as the script for Murphy's last starring lead in the western40 Guns to Apache Pass in 1967.[177] Murphy madeTrunk to Cairo in Israel in 1966.[178]
He first met directorBudd Boetticher when Murphy requested to be his boxing partner at Terry Hunt's Athletic Club.[179] He subsequently appeared in the 1951 title role of Boetticher's first westernThe Cimarron Kid.[180] Boetticher wrote the script in 1969 for Murphy's last film,A Time for Dying.[181] Two other projects that Murphy and Boetticher planned to collaborate on –A Horse for Mr Barnum andWhen There's Sumpthin' to Do – never came to fruition.[182]
Murphy married actressWanda Hendrix in 1949.[183] Their divorce became final two years later in 1951.[184] Four days later, he married former airline stewardess Pamela Opal Lee Archer, with whom[185] he had two sons: Terry Michael[186][187] and James Shannon.[188]
Murphy bredquarter horses at the Audie Murphy Ranch in what is nowMenifee, California, and the Murphy Ranch inPima County, Arizona.[ALM 11]
His horses raced at theDel Mar Racetrack, and he invested large sums of money in the hobby.[191] Murphy's gambling left his finances in a poor state. In 1968, he stated that he lost $260,000 in an Algerian oil deal and was dealing with theInternal Revenue Service over unpaid taxes.[192] In spite of his financial difficulties, Murphy refused to appear in commercials for alcohol and cigarettes, mindful of the influence he would have on the youth market.[193]
He was noted for a quick, fierce temper; he was involved in various violent altercations during his adult life.[194] In May 1970, he was arrested inBurbank, California, charged withbattery and assault with intent to commit murder in a dispute with a dog trainer. He was accused of firing a shot at the man, which he denied.[195][196] Murphy was cleared of the charges.[197]
On 28 May 1971, Murphy was killed when the private plane in which he was a passenger crashed into the side of a mountain 14 nautical miles (16 mi; 26 km) northwest ofRoanoke, Virginia,[198] in conditions of rain, clouds, fog, and zero visibility.[ALM 2][201] The pilot and four other passengers were also killed.[200]
The aircraft was a twin-engineAero Commander 680 flown by a pilot who had a private-pilot license and a reported 8,000 hours of flying time, but who held noinstrument rating. The aircraft was recovered on 31 May.[202] After her husband's death, Pamela Murphy moved into a small apartment and got a clerk position at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles, where she remained employed for 35 years.[203]
On 7 June 1971, Murphy was buried with military honors atArlington National Cemetery.[204] In attendance were Ambassador to the U.N.George H. W. Bush, Army Chief of StaffWilliam Westmoreland, and many of the 3rd Infantry Division.[205] Murphy's gravesite is in Section 46, headstone number 46-366-11, located across Memorial Drive from the Amphitheater. A special flagstone walkway was later constructed to accommodate the large number of people who visit to pay their respects. It is the cemetery's second most-visited gravesite, after that of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.[206]
The headstones of Medal of Honor recipients buried at Arlington National Cemetery are normally decorated in gold leaf. Murphy previously requested that his stone remain plain and inconspicuous, like that of an ordinary soldier.[207] The headstone contains the birth year 1924, based upon purportedly falsified materials among his military records.[208]
In 1974, a large granite marker was erected just off theAppalachian Trail at37°21′52″N80°13′33″W / 37.364554°N 80.225748°W /37.364554; -80.225748 (Audie Murphy monument) at 3,100 ft elevation, near the crash site.[209] In 1975, a court awarded Murphy's widow, Pamela, and their two children $2.5 million in damages because of the accident.[199]
Civilian honors were bestowed on Murphy during his lifetime and posthumously, including a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[210] In 2013, Murphy was honored by his home state with theTexas Legislative Medal of Honor.[ALM 12]
David McClure, his collaborator on the bookTo Hell and Back, discovered Murphy's talent for poetry during their work on the memoir when he found discarded verses in Murphy's Hollywood apartment. One of those poems, "The Crosses Grow on Anzio", appears inTo Hell and Back attributed to a soldier named Kerrigan. Only two others survived, "Alone and Far Removed" and "Freedom Flies in Your Heart Like an Eagle". The latter was part of a speech Murphy had written at a 1968 dedication of the Alabama War Memorial inMontgomery, and later set to music by Scott Turner under the title "Dusty Old Helmet".[215]
Murphy was a fan of country music, in particularBob Wills andChet Atkins, but was not a singer or musician himself.[216] Through his friendGuy Mitchell, Murphy was introduced to songwriterScott Turner in 1961.[217][218] The two collaborated on numerous songs between 1962 and 1970, the most successful of which were "Shutters and Boards" and "When the Wind Blows in Chicago".[219]
