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Audie Murphy The son of poor Texas sharecroppers, Audie Murphy became a national hero during World War II as being the most decorated combat soldier of the war. Among his 33 awards was the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery a soldier can receive. In addition, he was also decorated for bravery by the governments of France and Belgium, and was credited for killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing more. Murphy tried to enlist in the Army in his native Texas, but he was rejected for being too young. When he became old enough he tried again and was accepted this time. After undergoing basic military training, he was sent to Europe, where he fought in 9 major campaigns over three years and rose from the rank of Private to a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant. Part of Murphy's appeal to many people was that he hardly fit the "image" of a war hero. He was a slight, somewhat skinny, shy and soft-spoken young man, whose boyish appearance (something he was never to lose, he always looked 15 years younger than he actually was), often shocked people when they found out that, for example, during one battle he jumped on top of a burning tank - which was loaded with ammunition and cannon shells and could have exploded at any moment - and used its machine gun to hold off waves of attacking German soldiers, killing dozens of them and saving his unit from certain destruction and the entire line from being overrun. In September of 1941 Murphy was released from active duty and assigned to inactive status. His story caught the interest of actor James Cagney, who invited Murphy to Hollywood. For the next several years Murphy struggled to make it as an actor, jobs were few and far between, mostly bit parts. He finally got a staring role in Bad Boy (1949), and was eventually signed by Universal Pictures, which put him in a string of westerns, a genre that suited his easy-going image and Texas drawl. He starred in the film version of his biography, "To Hell and Back" (1955), which was a huge hit, setting a box office record for Universal that hasn't been broken for 20 years. One of his better pictures was "Night Passage" (1957), a western in which he played the kid brother of Jimmy Stewart. He received critical acclaim for his role in director John Huston's "Red Badge of Courage" (1951), and again in Huston's "The Unforgiven" (1960). In the mid-1960's Universal dropped the concept of contract players and hired actors on a per-picture basis. Murphy, among others, was dropped by the studio. In addition to his acting career - he made a total of 44 films - he was also a successful rancher and businessman. He bred and raised thoroughbred horses and owned several ranches in Texas, Arizona and California. He was also a song writer, and penned hits for such singers as Dean Martin, Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride and many others. His post-war life wasn't all roses. He suffered from what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PSTD, which was referred to as "combat fatigue" back then, and was known to have a hair-trigger temper. He was acquitted of attempted murder charges brought about by injuries he inflicted on a man in a bar fight. Director Don Siegel said in an interview that Murphy always carried a pistol on the set of the Gun Runners (1958), and many of the cast and crew were afraid of him. He had a short-lived and turbulent marriage to actress Wanda Hendrix, and in the late 1960's his bouts of insomnia and depression resulted in his becoming addicted to a particularly powerful sleeping pill called Placidyl, an addiction he eventually was able to break. He ran into a streak of bad financial luck and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1968. He campaigned on the government to spend more money and time taking care of returning Vietnam War veterans, as he more than others knew exactly what kind of problems they were going to have. On May 18, 1971, Murphy was aboard a private plane on his way to a business meeting when the plane ran into thick fog near Roanoke, Va., and crashed into the side of a mountain, killing all six people aboard. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. According to cemetery records, the only grave site visited more than Audie Murphy's is that of former President John F. Kennedy.