Audie Murphy

As Veteran's Day approaches, we remember those who fought, were wounded, or gave their lives to protect our country and people. All of these men and women are heroes, and this is the story of just one of them, a young man from Texas.

Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, receiving every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. 

He was born on 20th June 1925 and had a difficult upbringing with his siblings. His father left when he was a young boy, and his mother died when he was sixteen years old, leaving the children to support themselves. He left school and got a job picking cotton for a few dollars a week, and also learned to hunt, so that he could help to provide food for his brothers and sisters.

Audie had always wanted to join the military, so shortly after his mother passed away, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and America's official entry into the war, he tried to enlist, but at the tender age of just sixteen he was refused. Along with many other young men of the time, he managed to figure a way around this, and finally secured a place for basic army training at Camp Wolters in June 1942.

At the age of just 19, Murphy received the Medal of Honor after single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.

After the war, Audie was featured in Life magazine as the most decorated soldier in the war, and James Cagney leapt on the opportunity to bring him to Hollywood. After some coaching, Audie became an accomplished actor, and held an acting career from 1948 until 1969. He made more than 40 feature films and one television series. One of these films was an autobiographical movie about his own experiences during the war, which was called To Hell And Back, and at the time, was the biggest hit in the history of Universal Studios. Here's the trailer from the film:

Audie also performed in several radio shows, and we have four of these available on RUSC. These were:

The Shadow, Death from the Deep

Eddie Cantor Show, Guest - Audie Murphy

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood, Guest - Audie Murphy

Cavalcade of America, The Fields Are Green

Other important broadcasts to help us remember those days lest we forget, are of course the historical World News Today broadcasts many of which from World War II have been preserved and are available to listen to today.

And of course, there is the World at War Radio Station available on RUSC. 

A poignant selection of old time radio shows to remind us of the courage and bravery of the fighting men and women who have served in the conflicts of the past century.

Happy listening my friends,