The language employed by the military in citations for the Medal of Honor is crisp, concise, and largely devoid of emotion. Here, for instance, are some lines from Audie Murphy’s (1925–1971) citation for his engagement with German troops on Jan. 26, 1945, near Holtzwihr, France.
“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 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 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which 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.”
