Here's a picture of the great American hero Audie Murphy, credited with killing 240-odd German soldiers and destroying 6 tanks during WW II, in which he served with the infantry from 1943 to '45 (he enlisted when he was 16!). A few choice chestnuts from Audie's wikipedia entry:
"Following its participation in the Italian campaign, the 3rd Division invaded Southern France on August 15th, 1944. Shortly thereafter, Murphy's best friend, Lattie Tipton (referred to as "Brandon" in Murphy's book To Hell and Back), was killed while approaching some German troops feigning surrender. Murphy went into a rage, and single-handedly wiped out the German machine gun crew which had just killed his friend. He then used the German machine gun to destroy several other nearby enemy positions. For this act he received the Distinguished Service Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor)
(from his Medal of Honor citation) Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry. Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire, which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad that was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued his single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way back to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack, which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective"
Lest you think Audie was but a well-greased killing machine, upon returning to civilian life he not only sat down to pen his autobiography, the bestselling To Hell and Back, but he also lent his somewhat weak-chinned, plasticine presence to dozens of Hollywood oaters and other assorted genre pictures (including, yes, To Hell and Back: the movie). Was he also a country music songwriter? Fuck yeah he was!
Audie's career of creating art and conducting state-sponsored mass-murder was tragically cut short by a plane crash in 1971, but feel free to see him live again this Friday at MOMA, where he appears in John "Book of the Month" Huston's 1951 adaptation of The Red Badge of Courage, which is being presented by The New Yorker mainstay Lillian Ross, who may very well have (in fact, let's just take this supposition as a given) succumbed to the legendary Murphy Charm a half-century ago when penning her on-set classic, Picture.
"Following its participation in the Italian campaign, the 3rd Division invaded Southern France on August 15th, 1944. Shortly thereafter, Murphy's best friend, Lattie Tipton (referred to as "Brandon" in Murphy's book To Hell and Back), was killed while approaching some German troops feigning surrender. Murphy went into a rage, and single-handedly wiped out the German machine gun crew which had just killed his friend. He then used the German machine gun to destroy several other nearby enemy positions. For this act he received the Distinguished Service Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor)
(from his Medal of Honor citation) Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry. Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire, which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad that was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued his single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way back to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack, which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective"
Lest you think Audie was but a well-greased killing machine, upon returning to civilian life he not only sat down to pen his autobiography, the bestselling To Hell and Back, but he also lent his somewhat weak-chinned, plasticine presence to dozens of Hollywood oaters and other assorted genre pictures (including, yes, To Hell and Back: the movie). Was he also a country music songwriter? Fuck yeah he was!
Audie's career of creating art and conducting state-sponsored mass-murder was tragically cut short by a plane crash in 1971, but feel free to see him live again this Friday at MOMA, where he appears in John "Book of the Month" Huston's 1951 adaptation of The Red Badge of Courage, which is being presented by The New Yorker mainstay Lillian Ross, who may very well have (in fact, let's just take this supposition as a given) succumbed to the legendary Murphy Charm a half-century ago when penning her on-set classic, Picture.
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