Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated combat soldiers of the second world war - he received every military combat award for valor available from the Army, as well as Belgian and French awards for heroism
Murphy also received the Medal of Honor at 19 for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in January of '45, in France. Below is the citation for his Medal of Honor:
Second Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy, 01692509, 15th Infantry, Army of the United States, on 26 January 1945, near Holtzwihr, France, commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry.
"Lieutenant Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to a prepared position in a woods while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him to his right one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. It's crew withdrew to the woods. Lieutenant Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry.
With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, Lieutenant Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer which was in danger of blowing up any instant and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to the 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 Lieutenant 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. He received a leg wound but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he personally killed or wounded about 50.
Lieutenant Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective."
A small side note is the bottom left crest, which is the insignia of the 159th French Alpine Infantry Regiment. He was awarded this device by the Mayor of Ramatuelle, France, on the 13th of July, 1948 - he was awarded this when he was in France to be decorated by Lattre de Tassigny with the French Legion of Honor (Chevalier), and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, which took place on July 19th, 1948. Another note is the Texas National Guard's 36th Infantry Division patch he is wearing on his left arm.
If I were to list all of his awards, I would run out of space. Happy 4th of July to all the American subscribers!
zuzahin on July 4th, 2017 at 15:09 UTC »
Original
Murphy also received the Medal of Honor at 19 for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in January of '45, in France. Below is the citation for his Medal of Honor:
Second Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy, 01692509, 15th Infantry, Army of the United States, on 26 January 1945, near Holtzwihr, France, commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry.
"Lieutenant Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to a prepared position in a woods while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him to his right one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. It's crew withdrew to the woods. Lieutenant Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry.
With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, Lieutenant Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer which was in danger of blowing up any instant and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to the 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 Lieutenant 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. He received a leg wound but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he personally killed or wounded about 50.
Lieutenant Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective."
A small side note is the bottom left crest, which is the insignia of the 159th French Alpine Infantry Regiment. He was awarded this device by the Mayor of Ramatuelle, France, on the 13th of July, 1948 - he was awarded this when he was in France to be decorated by Lattre de Tassigny with the French Legion of Honor (Chevalier), and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, which took place on July 19th, 1948. Another note is the Texas National Guard's 36th Infantry Division patch he is wearing on his left arm.
If I were to list all of his awards, I would run out of space. Happy 4th of July to all the American subscribers!
mm_lv on July 4th, 2017 at 15:14 UTC »
Not to mention a Hollywood movie star who made some less than a memorable westerns.
skysplitter on July 4th, 2017 at 15:48 UTC »
I believe US Army brown is a more greenish brown (and kinda meh IMO). Artistic decision to make it a more deeper brown?
Regardless of the brown, this colorization is really quite gorgeous. Congrats on a bang up job.
edit- a word.