He was devoted to his mother and claimed that he never really got over her death. Murphy’s father was an unreliable character and, after leaving his family and then returning unexpectedly, finally abandoned them altogether and was never heard of again. He was the 7 th son of a family of 12 siblings. Murphy’s childhood was one of hardship and difficulty. Murphy was believed to be the most decorated soldier of World War II, but his tally was surpassed by veteran soldier Matt Urban who, addition to his numerous awards, also received from President Carter a belated Medal of Honor award. Officially, he was 21 years old when the war in Europe ended but despite his youth, by VE day (Victory in Europe – 8 th May, 1945) he had accounted for the loss of some 240 enemy soldiers. He joined the 3rd Infantry Division in which he served the entire war. After his sister provided an affidavit falsifying his birth date by a year, he was accepted by the U.S. Murphy lied about his age when he tried to enlist after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, but the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps all turned him down for being underweight and underage. The film actor, David Niven, recorded in his biography that not only would Murphy sleep with a loaded gun next to him, but would occasionally wake up startled fellow actors by firing off a round when he himself woke up. Audie Murphy suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For his actions that day, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He insisted on remaining with his men while his wounds were treated. Murphy then rejoined his men, disregarding his own wound, and led them back to repel the Germans. He sustained a leg wound during this stand and stopped only after he ran out of ammunition. For an hour, Murphy stood on the tank destroyer returning German fire from footsoldiers and advancing tanks, killing or wounding 50 Germans.
50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing a squad crawling through a ditch towards him. Murphy mounted the abandoned, burning tank destroyer and began firing its. Murphy ordered his men to retreat to positions in the woods, remaining alone at his post, shooting his M1 carbine and directing artillery fire via his field telephone while the Germans aimed fire directly at his position.
The Germans scored a direct hit on an M10 tank destroyer, setting it alight, forcing the crew to abandon it. The Medal of Honor was awarded to Murphy after he single-handedly held off a company of German soldiers at the Colmar Pocket and then, incredibly, even after being wounded, led a counterattack. Amongst these was the prestigious Medal of Honor. In total, Murphy received 33 awards and medals.
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