<p>Audie Murphy was one of the United States' greatest war heroes and the most decorated soldier in American history.&nbsp; He distinguished himself countless times in the face of incredible adversity, overcame every obstacle he faced, braved peril of every sort, and did it all with humility, dignity, and a healthy amount of machinegun fire.</p>
<p>Audie was born in rural Texas in 1924, the sixth of twelve children.&nbsp; He dropped out of school at an early age to help support his family by performing odd jobs around town and hunting for food to feed his family.&nbsp; His father abandoned them in 1936, and in 1940 his mother died, leaving Audie to care for his brothers and sisters.&nbsp; When war broke out after Pearl Harbor in 1942, Audie saw the armed forces as a way to help support his family and serve his country.&nbsp; He tried to enlist, but was still to young for the service.&nbsp; As soon as he turned 18 he went to the Marine Corps recruiter begging to join up.&nbsp; The Marines took one look at little Audie - he was five feet five inches tall and one hundred ten pounds - and determined that he was too small for the service.&nbsp; The Navy guys told him the same thing.&nbsp; The Army had no qualms about throwing Murphy into the meat grinder however, and shipped him off to North Africa as part of the US 3rd Infantry Division.</p>
<p>Audie trolled around in the desert for a while but never saw any combat until his unit was sent to invade Sicily.&nbsp; There, he proved himself in several battles and was quickly promoted to Sergeant.&nbsp; He continued to distinguish himself during the Allied invasion of mainland Italy, serving bravely during an amphibious invasion and in several key battles of the Italian campaign.</p>
<p>After helping secure Italy, the 3rd Division was tasked with the amphibious invasion of Southern France.&nbsp; After landing on the beachhead, Audie and his best friend noticed a group of German soldiers heading towards them waving a white flag and holding their rifles in the air.&nbsp; The Americans advanced forward to accept their surrender when all of a sudden the Kraut bastards pulled their rifles down and shot the shit out of Audie's buddy.</p>
<p>This didn't sit well with Sergeant Murphy.&nbsp; He flipped out like a goddamn ninja and gunned down the treacherous Nazi bastards.&nbsp; As soon as they hit the deck, a hidden German machine gun nest opened up on Audie.&nbsp; This only served to make him more angry.&nbsp; Murphy charged up the hill towards the gun emplacement and smoked the gun crew.&nbsp; He then picked up their MG42 machine gun and turned it on another nearby machinegun nest.&nbsp; Using the captured gun Rambo-style, Sergeant Murphy took out two more gun emplacements as well as a couple of sniper positions.&nbsp; His actions in beating Kraut asses earned him the US Distinguished Service cross - the second-highest honor given out by the military.</p>
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<p>As battle raged across Southern France Murphy continued to distinguish himself, earning Silver Stars for taking out machine gun nests and calling down artillery strikes on enemy armored troop positions.&nbsp; He was promoted to Second Lieutenant, but his adventure wasn't over yet.</p>
<p>Lt. Murphy was serving as company commander in the Holzwihr forest on 26 January 1945.&nbsp; His unit had been completely decimated - he had 19 men left in his company that was once 128 strong - and had been assigned to hold the critical Colmar Pocket region from a German counterattack.&nbsp; He had two M-10 tank destroyers attached to his unit, and was expecting and additional two companies of infantry to come cover his flank.</p>
<p>It was a cold, rainy morning when Lt. Murphy first noticed the battalion of German mechanized infantry heading towards his position.&nbsp; Three companies of Nazi soldiers and half a dozen heavy Tiger tanks were bearing down on him.&nbsp; Murphy radioed to HQ, only to find that the two companies of supporting infantry he was expecting to hold the flank were not going to arrive in time.&nbsp; Audie was alone and outnumbered, but it was his duty to hold this position and he knew what he had to do.</p>
<p>He send his men back to take defensive positions behind him, and called the M-10s forward to take out some of the German armor.&nbsp; Within minutes, both vehicles had been knocked out like chumps.&nbsp; Now it was just Audie against an impossibly large force of German troops.&nbsp; Instead of falling back to safety like a regular, sane person, Murphy instead jumped up and manned the .50 caliber machinegun mounted one of the burning, disabled M-10s.&nbsp; He got on the radio with Command HQ and started calling in artillery strikes to hit the German positions.&nbsp; Shells rained down, taking out Nazis all over the place, but it wasn't enough.&nbsp; Lt. Murphy opened up the machinegun from his completely exposed position and stared mowing down Krauts left and right.&nbsp; Artillery continued to pound the Germans while Murphy shot the shit out of them.&nbsp; Before long the German losses were so great that the Tiger tanks had to pull back because they had lost most of their infantry support.&nbsp; Audie continued to fire until he ran out of bullets, then dismounted the M-10 only seconds before the entire vehicle exploded.&nbsp; He rallied his men, and the small group of Americans charged forward and routed the German forces.&nbsp; The Colmar Pocket had held.</p>
<p>Murphy saw the war through to it's conclusion before returning home as a hero and receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor.&nbsp; He served some time in the Texas National Guard, retiring at the rank of Major.&nbsp; After his military service, Audie Murphy went on to be a badass movie action hero, starring in a number of Westerns and even playing himself in the autobiographical&nbsp;<em>To Hell and Back</em>.&nbsp; He was eventually given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.</p>
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<p>I remember when I was young my Dad and I watched&nbsp;<em>To Hell and Back</em>, and he told me that it was the true story of this kid's life.&nbsp; I remember watching it and thinking to myself that his story was too incredible to be true.&nbsp; The guy was an unassuming, humble man, but the stuff he accomplished during the war like like shit straight out of a bad action movie.&nbsp; Add his success as an actor to that, and you have a truly incredible badass.</p>
<p>But don't take my word for it - just look at the list of medals he received for his service:</p>
<ul>
<li>Congressional Medal of Honor</li>
<li>Distinguished Service Cross</li>
<li>Two Silver Stars</li>
<li>Legion of Merit</li>
<li>Two Bronze Stars</li>
<li>Three Purple Hearts</li>
<li>U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal</li>
<li>Good Conduct Medal</li>
<li>Two Presidential Unit Citations</li>
<li>American Campaign Medal</li>
<li>European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star,<br />Four Bronze Service Stars and one Bronze Arrowhead</li>
<li>World War II Victory Medal</li>
<li>Army of Occupation Medal</li>
<li>Armed Forces Reserve Medal</li>
<li>Combat Infantry Badge</li>
<li>Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar</li>
<li>Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar</li>
<li>French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre</li>
<li>French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier</li>
<li>French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star</li>
<li>French Croix de Guerre with Palm</li>
<li>Medal of Liberated France</li>
<li>Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm</li>
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<p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-small;">Links:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.audiemurphy.com/welcome.htm" target="blank">Audiemurphy.com</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy" target="blank">Wikipedia</a></p>