Bill Text: TX SCR5 | 2013 | 83rd Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directing the governor of the State of Texas to award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor posthumously to Audie Leon Murphy.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-20 - Filed [SCR5 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SCR5-Introduced.html
| 83S10611 KEK-D | ||
| By: Van de Putte | S.C.R. No. 5 | |
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| WHEREAS, The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was established | ||
| to recognize gallant and intrepid service by a member of the state | ||
| or federal military forces, and Audie Murphy, the most highly | ||
| decorated American soldier of World War II, would be a fitting | ||
| recipient of this prestigious award; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Born in Kingston, Hunt County, on June 20, 1925, | ||
| Audie Leon Murphy was one of 12 children; he received several years | ||
| of formal education before leaving school to help support his | ||
| family; in addition to working a variety of jobs, he hunted small | ||
| game for food and became a crack shot; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Audie Murphy tried to enlist in the armed forces | ||
| after the attack on Pearl Harbor but was rejected because he was | ||
| underage; later, when he claimed to be a year older than he actually | ||
| was, the marines and paratroopers turned him down on the grounds | ||
| that he was too short and thin; finally, in June 1942, still | ||
| misrepresenting his date of birth, he managed to join the army | ||
| infantry; determined to become a combat soldier, he successfully | ||
| resisted the effort of his company commander to have him | ||
| transferred to a cook and bakers school; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In early 1943, Private Murphy shipped overseas to | ||
| Morocco as a replacement in Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry | ||
| Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division; while stationed in North Africa, | ||
| he participated in extensive training maneuvers; he saw his first | ||
| combat in July 1943, when the 3rd Division invaded Sicily, and he | ||
| subsequently took part in the landing at Salerno, the Volturno | ||
| River Campaign, the landing at Anzio, and the march on Rome; during | ||
| those months in Italy, Audie Murphy demonstrated both exceptional | ||
| skill as a marksman and a sound grasp of small-unit tactics; his | ||
| proficiency as a soldier earned him repeated promotions and several | ||
| decorations for valor; and | ||
| WHEREAS, On the morning of August 15, 1944, Staff Sergeant | ||
| Murphy landed with the 3rd Division in southern France; that same | ||
| day, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross, this nation's | ||
| second-highest award for heroism, for his actions in | ||
| single-handedly destroying a German machine gun crew and several | ||
| other enemy positions, feats that made possible the capture of a | ||
| fiercely contested hill; the following October 2 and October 5, he | ||
| earned Silver Stars for further heroic action; and | ||
| WHEREAS, That fall, Audie Murphy received a battlefield | ||
| commission as a second lieutenant; soon afterward, he sustained a | ||
| wound that removed him from action for the next 10 weeks; though not | ||
| completely healed, he returned to his unit early the next year, and | ||
| on January 25, 1945, he became company commander; and | ||
| WHEREAS, At that time, Lieutenant Murphy's men were engaged | ||
| in the effort to clear German soldiers from an area in eastern | ||
| France known as the Colmar Pocket; on January 26, in bitter cold and | ||
| with several feet of snow covering the ground, Company B came under | ||
| attack by six German tanks and 250 German infantrymen; Lieutenant | ||
| Murphy ordered his troops, whose effective strength had been | ||
| reduced by about 40 percent, to fall back; he remained forward and | ||
| continued to direct Allied artillery fire by telephone; when the | ||
| German tanks drew abreast of his position, he mounted a burning tank | ||
| destroyer and, though exposed to fire on three sides, employed its | ||
| machine gun against the enemy, causing the German infantry to waver | ||
| and the tanks to fall back; he continued to hold his ground in the | ||
| firefight for an hour, wiping out a German squad that had reached | ||
| within 10 yards of his position; when his ammunition was exhausted, | ||
| he made his way back to his company, refused medical treatment for a | ||
| leg wound, and led his men in a successful counterattack, enabling | ||
| his unit to save the woods that had been the Germans' objective; | ||
| Lieutenant Murphy was credited with personally killing or wounding | ||
| about 50 enemy combatants in that encounter, and his exceptional | ||
| bravery earned him the Medal of Honor; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The following month, Audie Murphy was withdrawn from | ||
| the front lines, promoted to first lieutenant, and made a liaison | ||
| officer; he returned to the States in mid-June 1945, having earned | ||
| 28 medals, including several from France and Belgium; he was not yet | ||
| 21; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Lieutenant Murphy received his discharge from the | ||
| army in September 1945; he joined the Texas National Guard in 1950, | ||
| after the outbreak of the Korean War, and eventually attained the | ||
| rank of major; assigned to inactive status in 1957, he transferred | ||
| to the United States Army Reserve in 1966 and continued as a member | ||
| of the reserve until his death in 1971; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Though his extraordinary record in the war brought | ||
| him widespread fame, Audie Murphy remained profoundly humble, | ||
| highlighting his comrades' courage, rather than his own, in his | ||
| autobiography and requesting a plain government headstone for his | ||
| grave, instead of one adorned with the gold gilt that typically | ||
| signifies a Medal of Honor recipient; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Audie Murphy repeatedly risked his life to save the | ||
| lives of his fellow soldiers and to help advance their mission, and | ||
| for his remarkable heroism he is most assuredly deserving of this | ||
| state's supreme military award; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas, | ||
| 1st Called Session, hereby direct the governor of the State of Texas | ||
| to award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor posthumously to Audie | ||
| Leon Murphy in recognition of his valiant actions in World War II. | ||
