Audie Murphy was only 46 years old when he died in a helicopter crash into
the Virginia Mts. He was bothered all his life when he came back from
the war and it really affected his life. He never got the medical help
like he should have gotten*.
*Audie Murphy's Wife...*
*Not many young people know who Audie Murphy was or how big a war hero he
was. Two or three of the medals he earned would make most service men
proud, but to have earned his decorations in battle is truly unbelievable.*
*Now to find out that his widow was also most certainly a hero. Truly
fantastic. I am so grateful to have received this email. I hope you are
too.*
*List of Decorations for Audie Murphy.*
*Medal of Honor*
*Distinguished Service Cross*
*Silver Star (with oak leaf cluster)*
*Legion of Merit*
*Bronze Star (with oak leaf cluster and Valor device)*
*Purple Heart (with two oak leaf clusters)*
*U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal*
*U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal*
*Presidential Unit Citation (with First Oak Leaf Cluster)*
*American Campaign Medal*
*European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with One Silver Star,
Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze
Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France)),*
*World War II Victory Medal*
*Army of Occupation Medal (with Germany Clasp)*
*Armed Forces Reserve Medal*
*French Fourrag?e in Colors of the Croix de guerre*
*French Legion of Honor - Grade of Chevalier*
*French Croix de guerre (with Silver Star),*
*French Croix de guerre (with Palm)*
*Medal of Liberated France*
*Belgian Croix de guerre (with 1940 Palm)
Additionally, Murphy was awarded:
|**the* *Combat Infantry Badge**,*
*Marksman Badge**with Rifle Bar,*
*Expert Badge**with Bayonet Bar*
*Isn't it sad the media can tell us all about the BAD that goes on, but
ignores the GOOD people. If a movie star or politician stubs their toe we
have to hear about it for days!!!*
*(From the Los Angeles Times on April 15, 2010)
Pamela Murphy, widow of WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy, died peacefully
at her home on April 8, 2010. She was the widow of the most decorated WWII
hero and actor, Audie Murphy, and established her own distinctive 35 year
career working as a patient liaison at the Sepulveda Veterans
Administration hospital, treating every veteran who visited the facility
as if they were a VIP.
Any soldier or Marine who came into the hospital got the same special
treatment from her. She would walk the hallways with her clipboard in hand
making sure her boys got to see the specialist they needed.
If they didn't, watch out. Her boys weren't Medal of Honor recipients or
movie stars like Audie, but that didn't matter to Pam. They had served
their country. That was good enough for her. She never called a veteran by
his first name. It was always "Mister." Respect came with the job.
"Nobody could cut through VA red tape faster than Mrs. Murphy," said
veteran Stephen Sherman, speaking for thousands of veterans she befriended
over the years. "Many times I watched her march a veteran who had been
waiting more than an hour right into the doctor's office. She was even
reprimanded a few times, but it didn't matter to Mrs. Murphy. "Only her
boys mattered. She was our angel."
Audie Murphy died broke in a plane crash in 1971, squandering millions of
dollars on gambling, bad investments, and yes, other women. "Even with the
adultery and desertion at the end, he always remained my hero," Pam told
me.
She went from a comfortable ranch-style home in Van Nuys where she raised
two sons to a small apartment - taking a clerk's job at the nearby VA to
support herself and start paying off her faded movie star husband's debts.
At first, no one knew who she was. Soon, though, word spread through the
VA that the nice woman with the clipboard was Audie Murphy's widow. It was
like saying General Patton had just walked in the front door. Men with
tears in their eyes walked up to her and gave her a hug.
"Thank you," they said, over and over.
The first couple of years, I think the hugs were more for Audie's memory
as a war hero. The last 30 years, they were for Pam.
One year I asked her to be the focus of a Veteran's Day column for all the
work she had done. Pam just shook her head no.
"Honor them, not me," she said, pointing to a group of veterans down the
hallway. "They're the ones who deserve it."
The vets disagreed. Mrs. Murphy deserved the accolades, they said.
Incredibly, in 2002, Pam's job was going to be eliminated in budget cuts.
She was considered "excess staff." "I don't think helping cut down on
veterans' complaints and showing them the respect they deserve, should be
considered excess staff," she told me. Neither did the veterans. They
went ballistic, holding a rally for her outside the VA gates. Pretty
soon, word came down from the top of the VA. Pam Murphy was no longer
considered "excess staff."
She remained working full time at the VA until 2007 when she was 87.
"The last time she was here was a couple of years ago for the conference
we had for homeless veterans," said Becky James, coordinator of the VA's
Veterans History Project. Pam wanted to see if there was anything she
could do to help some more of her boys. Pam Murphy was 90 when she died
last week. What a lady.
No comments:
Post a Comment