Official Narrative For Medal of Honor Recipient MURPHY, AUDIE L.
Drawn by Don Moore
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army,
Company B, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Holtzwihr France, 26 January 1945.
Entered service at: Dallas, Tex. Birth: Hunt County, near
Kingston, Tex.
G.O. No.65, 9 August 1945.
CITATION: 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was
attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to
withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his
command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by
telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a
direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy
continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the
advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d
Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of
blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against
the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his
deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to
waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an
hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy,
but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying
to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10
yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but
ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was
exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention,
and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to
withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he
killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his
refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible
encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had
been the enemy's objective.
Reprinted from Committee On Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor
Recipients: 1963-1973 (Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1973,
reprinted 1979).
Portrait of Audie Murphy reprinted with permission of Don Moore,
Illustrator, Killeen, Texas.
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