Perhaps it’s ironic or contradictory, but true heroes are rarely boastful, even though, by definition, they have reason enough to brag. They are usually humble, making them all the more human and endearing.
“I’m just a friendly sort of scrawny, freckled-face kid from Texas, so how can anyone honestly expect me to maintain an air of superiority and romantic mystery?” he once said.
Murphy’s upbringing was hardscrabble, which was common for poor, Depression-era folks in that part of the country. His aloof father abandoned the family when the boy was just 15, and then his beloved mother died shortly thereafter. Audie quit school in the fifth grade to pick cotton and support his 11 brothers and sisters. In his spare time, he honed his skills with a rifle to put meat on the table. Before long, however, his siblings ended up in orphanages or the homes of relatives.
After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Audie itched to serve, but at a mere five-foot-five and 110 pounds, he was turned away by the Army, Navy, and Marines. He was a year too young as well. In 1942, he falsified his birth certificate by a year to indicate that he was 18, reapplied to the Army, and this time was accepted.

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Murphy was credited with taking out more than 240 enemy soldiers and saving the lives of far more on the Allied side. Many who knew him and who saw him brave direct fire thought the super-human little guy was either blessed or possessed. He was a one-man war machine. Murphy later recounted his escapades in a popular autobiography, “To Hell and Back,” and then starred as himself in the even more popular film version.
Murphy didn’t kill enemy soldiers because he enjoyed it. He saw it as his duty in situations that required it. To the end of his life, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and urged public and private entities to recognize it and treat its victims accordingly. He broke down in tears whenever he thought about the children of the men whose lives he took in war.
“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,” he said.
“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.”