29 November 2016
Audie Murphy’s Courageous Stand
Few men can match the courage of First Lieutenant Audie Murphy. After the catastrophic events at Pearl Harbor, he had made the decision to enlist in the military. Lieutenant Murphy ended up fighting in WWII from 1942 to 1945, and was one of the most decorated veterans of the war. After courageously serving in the war, Lieutenant Murphy continued his career in the Texas National Guard, retiring as a major in the Army in 1969. Throughout his military career, he has demonstrated that he stands by the Army Values, the Army Profession, and is an outstanding Army Leader.
On the 26th of January, 1945, Lieutenant Murphy managed to hold his company’s position against multiple German tanks and infantrymen. While directing artillery fire on his field radio, a tank destroyer was set on fire after receiving a direct hit. The crew commanding the vehicle was forced to exit. After moving his men to safer positions in the woods, Lieutenant Murphy climbed atop the burning tank destroyer to man the .50 caliber machine gun. Despite the possibility that the tank destroyer could explode, Lieutenant Murphy continued to kill waves of Germans with the machine-gun for an hour, sustaining a bullet-wound in his leg. Despite his injury, Lieutenant Murphy continued to deplete all of his ammunition and move back to his company. Denying medical care, he led his troops in an attack on the Germans back while calling artillery fire down on their position. As a result of his actions, he managed to defend the woods that his men were occupying (Medal of Honor Citation).
Prior to the battle that earned him his Medal of Honor, Lieutenant Murphy had demonstrated his eligibility of being an excellent member of the Army. After receiving the news about the events at Pearl Harbor, Audie Murphy decided to enlist in the military. This demonstrates his commitment to serving the nation, as well as his loyalty. In addition to his initial display of the Army Values, he exhibited military professionalism in earning his marksmanship badge and his expert marksmanship badge while at Camp Wolters (Audie Murphy’s Decorations). Lieutenant Murphy’s military expertise proved invaluable during the battle in which he earned the Medal of Honor. Military expertise is to be applied autonomously (ADRP 5-8) and judged discretely (ADRP 5-9). By making the decisions to lead his troops to safety, conduct a counterattack, and order artillery strikes on the enemy to hold off the German offensive, Lieutenant Murphy was practicing military expertise. This is also an excellent display of Army Leadership (ADP 6-22) and selfless-service (Seven Army Values), as Lieutenant Murphy put the well-being of his troops before his own, as well as personal courage by putting himself in immediate danger for the benefit of the mission (Seven Army Values). This is apparent in his decision to move his company to the woods and man the machine gun alone against the German offensive. His bold actions and quick-thinking lead to the retreat of the German forces and successfully defending the woods that his company was occupying, demonstrating his talent as an Army Leader. After his service in the war, Lieutenant Murphy displayed his honorable service by being one of the most decorated veterans of WWII. He had a total of 23 medals and decorations (Decorations). He also is a steward of the profession (ADP 2-24). He continued to serve in the Texas National Guard, and trained recruits to continue the Army tradition.
It is exceedingly rare for one man to completely change the outcome of a battle. However, Lieutenant Audie Murphy succeeded in doing exactly that, driving back the German offensive and defending the woods his company occupied. Works Cited
Murphy, Audie. Req_Retired_Reserves_18Apr69.pdf. N.p.: Http://www.audiemurphy.com/documents.htm, n.d. PDF.
"www.knox.army.mil, The Official Homepage of Fort Knox." Medal of Honor Citation – Sergeant Audie Murphy Association – Fort Knox Chapter – Fort Knox, Kentucky. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2016.
Seven Army Values – http://www.history.army.mil/LC/The%20Mission/the_seven_army_values.htm
Decorations – http://www.audiemurphy.com/decorations.htm
ADRP – Army Doctrine Reference Publication
ADP – Army Doctrine Publication