Audie MURPHY

[timothy]

I grew up with Audie Murphy my dad even met him in a hospital in France there will never be one like him I think to hell and back was a great movie. My friend has a hardback book on him and somewhere in it Audie shows a K98K sniper rifle he sent home that he killed the German with a M-1 carbine (according to the book) Most movies show him with a Thompson. It was a high turret 98 and you could clearly see it. It also talks about him having a P-38 and I am sure he had a lot being who he was. Can still remember standing in line to see "To hell and back" when it came out his life story. timothy

[cricketchris1944]

I grew up with Audie Murphy my dad even met him in a hospital in France there will never be one like him I think to hell and back was a great movie. My friend has a hardback book on him and somewhere in it Audie shows a K98K sniper rifle he sent home that he killed the German with a M-1 carbine (according to the book) Most movies show him with a Thompson. It was a high turret 98 and you could clearly see it. It also talks about him having a P-38 and I am sure he had a lot being who he was. Can still remember standing in line to see "To hell and back" when it came out his life story. timothy

Got to agree that was a great movie,probably saw the movie half a dozen times.
chris

[Scout]

AM was one heck of a soldier. Talk about proving your mettle....

[Walkwolf]

Murphy also starred in 'The Red Badge Of Courage' with
Bill Mauldin - the well known WWII cartoonist.........


Pics from the internet ;

[Scout]

.............which by the way is a 'must-read' book.

[crites1234]

He became addicted to morphine after the war but then one day he realized he needed to stop so he cut himself off cold turkey and locked himself in his house for 2 weeks till he was clean and as for the movie he told the director that they couldn't put everything he did in the movie because he was afraid that people wouldn't believe that he had actually done it and that he was just trying to cash in. I first heard about him through this page on Cracked.com 5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy | Cracked.com (They word it very macho but they do at least have the correct info plus its amusing to read

[Wagriff]

They don't give out the CMH for peeling potatos in the mess hall. Murphy was a little man, but he had the guts of a Tiger. He earned that medal several times over, but you only get it once! I always wondered what he must have thought and felt like playing himself in a Movie. It must have been strange for sure. It was ironic, to have gone through the Hell that he did on the battlefield and to die so young in a damned Plane crash, but then again, Patton died in a car wreck, so go figure. I guess both their jobs were finally done and it was time to go home...Job well done.

[Scout]

They don't give out the CMH for peeling potatos in the mess hall. Murphy was a little man, but he had the guts of a Tiger. He earned that medal several times over, but you only get it once! I always wondered what he must have thought and felt like playing himself in a Movie. It must have been strange for sure. It was ironic, to have gone through the Hell that he did on the battlefield and to die so young in a damned Plane crash, but then again, Patton died in a car wreck, so go figure. I guess both their jobs were finally done and it was time to go home...Job well done.

Agreed.

I cant help thinking of others, who stood up to incredible odds and came out the other side only to perish in accidents.

Dick Bong springs to mind.

Ira Hayes.

Gagarin as well for that matter.

They might have passed, but what they did will be re-told and passed through generations.

[lithgow]

It was all too common for men to die young in the immediate aftermath of the war-car/motorcycle and aircraft accidents claimed many who had developed a taste for the rush of excitement of being on the edge or had been traumatised into facing it again and again-it must have been a strange experience re enacting his war service for a film (although he was a professional actor).

PS Are no bars awarded for the CMO or has no one actually qualified twice as of yet?

[Scout]

Yes, in fact some biker gangs initially concisted of ex-servicemen/aviators craving exitement.
I believe some veterans can relate to that to a certain degree.
Adjusting to civilian life can be difficult for some.

.....though neither Bong, Hayes nor Gagaring died doing any death defying stunts (although being a test pilot is ofcourse not your insurance company's favourite occupation).

As William mentioned, ironic to have gone though all that and die in an accident like Audie Murphy did.

The others mentioned as well.