Most of us hop online daily or nightly to play WWII based FPS games. Do you ever take into consideration the men who fought and died in WWII? Defended the integrity, freedom, and rights of all people 65 years ago? In June 1996, the Texas Legislature did acknowledge such bravery by dedicating June 20th as an official day of memorial in Texas for one man who stood above many. On June 9th, 1999 George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, made it an official proclamation. Today marks what would have been the 82nd birthday of one of America’s greatest war heros. Today is Audie Murphy day.

Audie Murphy was born near Kingston in Hunt County Texas 82 years ago today. Raised in a family that existed as tenant farmers, Audie learned from an early age to hunt in order to help provide food for his family. Later on in life his skill with a rifle would become a valuable asset.

At the beginning of WWII, shortly after his 18th birthday, Audie enlisted in the Army and was assigned to Company B, 15th Regiment of the Third Infantry Division. After serving only 3 years of active duty, Audie became the most decorated soldier in U.S. History. He received 33 awards and decorations, including every medal of valor, some more than once, three purple hearts, and 5 decorations from France and Belgium. He served in 9 campaigns across the European Theatre and earned the highest decoration in the United States, the Medal of Honor, in one sterling act of bravery.

During a battle near Holtzwhir, France in 1945, Audie’s company came under attack by German tanks and infantry. Ordering his men to fall back, Audie remained at a forward command post in order to issue orders to his artillery. As his men came under fire and the enemy started to close in, Audie jumped onto a burning tank and took control of a .50-caliber machine gun firing upon the enemy until he ran out of ammunition. With little care for his own well-being, Audie’s bravery and persistence paid off, the enemy line faltered. His men regrouped, counterattacked, and overcame the German forces. Even after suffering a leg wound during the confrontation, Audie declined medical assistance until his men were out of harm’s way and in control of the situation.

When asked what America meant to him after his discharge in 1945, Audie had this to say…


"In 1948, I returned to France at the invitation of French Government. It was still a war-ravaged country ... but this time there was something different. It wasn't the absence of fighting, nor the silence of the big guns, nor the disappearance of uniforms and chow lines ... I didn't know what it was until one morning when I was taken to the grounds of a small French school. The children had been assembled in the play yard. They were grouped close together and arranged in wobbly little rows, their dark heads bobbing around like flower buds on long stems. One of the teachers rapped for silence. The kids quieted immediately and turned their eyes towards her. Their Faces were scrubbed and bright in the sunshine. The teacher raised her arms, and for a moment, there was no sound ... Then the teacher brought her arms down and the kids began to sing... I Knew why I felt at home. The spirit of freedom was hovering over that play yard as it did all over France at that time. A country was free again. A people had recovered their independence and their children were grateful. They were singing in French, but the melody was freedom and any American could understand that.

America, at that moment, never meant more to me ... The true meaning of America, you ask? It's in a Texas rodeo, in a policeman's badge, in the sound of laughing children, in a political rally, in a newspaper... In all these things, and many more, you'll find America. In all these things, you'll find freedom. And freedom is what America means to the world. And to me." JROTC ORG

Today, the community at Teamwarfare celebrates a soldier. A man of honor. One who served his country well and came home to tell his story. We honor him today by celebrating his life, his service to our country, and all he represents to the men and women who proudly served in honor and defense of our country then and today. The spirit of Audie Murphy lives on as long as we remember and keep alive Audie's sense of what America meant to him.