Profile of the Day: Audie Murphy

On this day in 1925, World War II hero Audie Murphy was born in Kingston, Texas. One of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, Murphy received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army. After the war, he enjoyed a successful acting career and became one of Hollywood’s most popular stars.

Image: Audie Murphy / Wikimedia Commons

Murphy was the seventh of twelve children born to Emmett Berry Murphy and Josie Bell Killian. He grew up in a poor family of sharecroppers and by the fifth grade, Murphy was already working to help support his family. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Murphy’s sister helped him falsify documentation on his birth, altering his birthdate by a year, to allow him to meet the minimum age requirement to join the Army.

Murphy’s acts of heroism during World War II were legendary. At the age of 19, he received the Medal of Honor for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour. He sustained a leg wound during the attack and only stopped after he ran out of ammunition. Despite his injury, he joined his men in a counterattack that drove the Germans back.

After the war, Murphy enjoyed a successful film career that spanned 21 years. In one of his most memorable roles, he starred as himself in the film To Hell and Back, an autobiographical film based on Murphy’s experiences during World War II.

Murphy died shortly before his 47th birthday in a plane crash in Virginia. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Explore Audie Murphy’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the World War II hero.

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