Valor Administration

Remember

Audie Murphy was born on this day in 1925. There is sometimes confusion over his birth year because he falsified a birth certificate to join the Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He entered the military as a Private at age 17 and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant before earning a battlefield commission. He was wounded three times, fighting in 9 major campaigns in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of War.

He would become the most decorated soldier of World War II receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Colmar Pocket, Holtzwihr, France. After the war, he wrote the bestselling book TO HELL AND BACK and starred in 44 movies. The 1955 movie adaptation of his autobiography was Universal’s highest-grossing film until 1975.

He was one of the first to bring attention to what is now known as post-traumatic stress, focusing his efforts on assisting Korean War and Vietnam War veterans. He was killed in a plane crash in 1971. He was 45. He is buried in Section 46 of Arlington National Cemetery.

In part, his Medal of Honor citation reads:

“With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 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 2d 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 the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted.”

After the war, he was asked what had motivated him to take those heroic actions that day. He replied simply: "They were killing my friends.”

February 24, 1969⠀
Sgt. Levitow (then A1c.), U.S. Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying a night mission in support of Long Binh Army Post. Sgt. Levitow's aircraft was struck by a hostile mortar round. The resulting explosion ripped a hole two feet in diameter through the wing and fragments made over 3,500 holes in the fuselage. All occupants of the cargo compartment were wounded and helplessly slammed against the floor and fuselage. ⠀
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The explosion tore an activated flare from the grasp of a crewmember who had been launching flares to provide illumination for Army ground troops engaged in combat. Sgt. Levitow, though stunned by the concussion of the blast and suffering from over 40 fragment wounds in the back and legs, staggered to his feet and turned to assist the man nearest to him who had been knocked down and was bleeding heavily. As he was moving his wounded comrade forward and away from the opened cargo compartment door, he saw the smoking flare ahead of him in the aisle. ⠀
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Realizing the danger involved and completely disregarding his own wounds, Sgt. Levitow started toward the burning flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the flare was rolling wildly from side to side. Sgt. Levitow struggled forward despite the loss of blood from his many wounds and the partial loss of feeling in his right leg. ⠀
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Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw himself bodily upon the burning flare. Hugging the deadly device to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the aircraft and hurled the flare through the open cargo door. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft. Sgt. Levitow, by his selfless and heroic actions, saved the aircraft and its entire crew from certain death and destruction.

February 23, 1971⠀
Sp4c. Dahl distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a machine gunner on a gun truck near An Khe, Binh Dinh Province. The gun truck in which Sp4c. Dahl was riding was sent with two other gun trucks to assist in the defense of a convoy that had been ambushed by an enemy force. The gun trucks entered the battle zone and engaged the attacking enemy troops with a heavy volume of machine-gun fire, causing a large number of casualties. ⠀
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After a brief period of intense fighting the attack subsided. As the gun trucks were preparing to return to their normal es**rt duties, an enemy hand gr***de was thrown into the truck in which Sp4c. Dahl was riding. Instantly realizing the great danger, Sp4c. Dahl called a warning to his companions and threw himself directly onto the gr***de. ⠀
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Through his indomitable courage, complete disregard for his safety, and profound concern for his fellow soldiers, Sp4c. Dahl saved the lives of the other members of the truck crew while sacrificing his own.