WWII’s Most Decorated Soldier Was a Teenager: The Audie Murphy Story

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Learn more at L'OréalParis.com. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Audie Murphy was a fifth grade educated teenager who became World War II's most decorated soldier, earning 33 military awards, citations, and decorations, 12 of which were for valor. He would go on to be a major motion picture star, playing the lead in over 40 pictures, and write a best selling autobiography of his war experiences entitled To Hell and Back.

And then, extraordinarily, would play himself in the highly successful film based on the book. Here to tell another Hollywood Goes to War story is Roger McGrath. Roger is the author of Gunfighters, Howie Men, and Vigilantes. He's a U.S. Marine and former history professor at UCLA and a frequent contributor on the History Channel documentaries. He's a regular contributor here.

Take it away, McGrath. For years now, Audie Murphy has been a well-known motion picture star, but he is known also as the most decorated soldier of World War II. What has stayed in his mind? What does he remember most about that time of his life? Audie Murphy is one of the greatest of our American heroes. Born and reared in poverty, he became America's most decorated soldier of World War II, while still a teenager. After the war, he became a movie star, appearing in 44 films, often as a leading man. He also wrote songs, two of them hits. His rise from obscurity to war hero and fame and fortune is one of the most improbable in American history. Audie Murphy is born on June 20, 1925, on a farm in Hunt County, Texas.

He's the seventh of 12 children, born to Emmett and Josie Murphy. His father is a sharecropper, and the family lives in dire poverty, never having enough food or clothes. Audie learns to hunt at an early age, not as a recreational activity, but to help put food on the table for the family. He becomes a skilled marksman.

He can't afford to miss. Bullets cost money. A neighbor once gave Audie a dozen rounds of ammo for a.22 rifle that Audie is using. Later in the day, Audie returns with seven rabbits and five bullets he didn't use. The neighbor is astounded by the shooting prowess of a little kid named Audie Murphy. I am Nadine Murphy, the sister of Audie L. Murphy, the most decorated hero of World War II. People don't believe you went to bed hungry, got up hungry, went and worked all day, come in, nothing to eat.

They'd get out hunting and stuff to kill squirrels and rabbits for us to have something to eat, and we were always proud of it. Audie and his brothers and sisters are the ultimate underdogs in a nation of underdogs during the Great Depression. Audie attends school only intermittently. He spends most of his young years, not in the classroom, but in the fields picking cotton.

He totes a cotton sack for the first time at age five. The few years he actually attends school, he misses weeks at a time, necessitated by work on the farm. At school, he's often in fights.

Despite being smaller than the playground bullies, he's never one to back down. His teacher calls him, my fighting Irishman, and later says his childhood was always a struggle against many odds, but he was intelligent, industrious, quick to anger, but very loyal and devoted to the ones he loved. When Audie is only 14, his father takes off for parts unknown, saying he has work in another county and will send money home. Daddy got up one cold snowy night and put on his clothes and walked off and left us. My mother was down sick, and I seen him when he left out the door.

Two years later, Audie's mother dies. A hardscrabble life gets harder, if that's possible. Some men, big truck come down there late one evening, put our big, what we had, we didn't have much.

They loaded up and they put us out on the roadside, and we was out there and it started raining on us. Audie later said, people know me for my record as a soldier, but the truth is I must have done some of the best fighting in a war I was in long before I joined the Army. You might say there never was a peace time in my life, a time when things were good. I never had just fun. I am one Texan boy who never had a pair of cowboy boots. I'm one native born and native bred American male who actually doesn't know the rules of our national pastime, baseball. I never had time to play or the paraphernalia you play with.

I never had a bike. It was a full-time job, just existing. Audie is a month shy of 16 years old when his mother dies. It's a devastating blow for the teenage Audie. He worshiped our mother. She died and he just couldn't get over it. He later said she had the most beautiful hair I've ever seen.

It reached almost to the floor. She rarely talked and always seemed to be searching for something. What it was, I don't know.

We didn't discuss our feelings. But when she passed away, she took something of me with her. It seems I've been searching for it ever since. Audie tries to hold the family together, at least those children still at home, and works several jobs. Nonetheless, the county sends the three youngest Murphy children to an orphanage. Audie is devastated for a second time. Six months after the death of Audie's mother, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a sneak attack on December 7, 1941, the date that will live in infamy. And you've been listening to Dr. Roger McGrath tell the story of the most decorated soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy. And my goodness, he toted cotton sacks at the age of five, and he didn't hunt for fun.

He hunted for food, for the family meals. When we come back, more of the story of Audie Murphy, here on Our American Stories. Here at Our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith, and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told.

But we can't do it without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love our stories in America like we do, please go to OurAmericanStories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming.

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Here's Roger McGrath. Six months after the death of Audie's mother, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a sneak attack on December 7, 1941. Like most Americans, Audie is stunned and outraged. Although underage and underweight, Audie tries enlisting in the service, but is rejected by the Marine Corps and by the Army. Just after he turned 17, an older sister, Corrine, falsely attests Audie having just turned 18. And so he came in one day and he told my older sister, Corrine, he said, I want to join the Army. And she said, Audie, you're not old enough. And he said, I know it, but I want to go. He said, will you sign for me?

She said, well, you know I can, but if something happens to you, I'll always feel guilty. She said, I'm going to go over there and do my best. And he said, if I live through it, I'm going to get a home where these three little ones here will have a home. He walked over there and signed up and he's just gone in a day or two. Audie is five foot five and a half inches tall and weighs 112 pounds and doesn't have anything to shave on his freckled baby face, but the Army enlists the blue-eyed, auburn-haired kid on June 30, 1942. Audie will grow taller and gain weight, but will still look like a baby-faced kid when discharged in September 1945. Audie Murphy goes through basic training at Camp Walters, some 50 miles west of Fort Worth.

He's still in Texas, but for the first time is meeting men from outside the state. Called Baby by his first sergeant, Murphy gets along well with his fellow recruits and excels throughout the training. Upon graduation, he's recommended for a rear echelon assignment because of his small size and boyish appearance. Murphy will have none of it and insists on the infantry. Exceeding to his wishes, the Army sends Murphy through advanced infantry training at Fort Meade, Maryland.

He again excels and again is urged to accept a rear echelon billet. Murphy refuses and goes overseas with the 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. Audie, how long were you in the service? Well, actually a very short time, about three years, but I assure you it seemed much longer. Did you spend most of your service in Europe?

Practically all of it. I had my basic training in Texas and a little bit at Fort Meade, Maryland and a lot on to North Africa. Murphy arrives in Casablanca, Morocco in February 1943 and is assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment.

The unit serves in Algeria but sees little action and spends most of its time in rigorous training. Murphy demonstrates natural leadership skills and is promoted to PFC on May 7th. On July 10th, 1943, the 3rd Division lands on Sicily in Operation Husky. Murphy is immediately assigned to scouting patrols. On one of the patrols, Murphy spots two Italian officers, each mounted on a beautiful horse, fleeing in the distance. Murphy fires twice and the two Italian officers drop from their saddles dead. On July 15th, Murphy is promoted to corporal.

After more fighting in Sicily, the 3rd Division takes part in Operation Avalanche, the invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno on September 9, 1943. Casualties are heavy. Murphy is leading a three-man scouting party along the Volturno River on September 15th when German machine gun fire kills one of the party. Murphy and the other surviving American destroy the machine gun emplacement and kill five Germans with hand grenades and rifle fire. A month later, Murphy leads the way in repelling a German assault on this company's position.

Three Germans are killed and four are taken prisoner. On December 13th, Murphy is promoted to sergeant. The action continues hot and heavy along what is termed the Volturno Line until mid-January 1944. Murphy's in the thick of it and is promoted to staff sergeant on January 13th. Murphy misses the landings at Anzio in Operation Shingle on January 22, 1944 because he's in a hospital at Naples suffering from malaria. However, he's back with his unit in time for the Battle of Cisterna at the end of January, again demonstrating outstanding leadership and courage under fire. Staff Sergeant Murphy is made a platoon sergeant in Company B.

He's still only 18 years old. On March 2nd, 1944 and again on March 8th, Murphy is awarded the Bronze Star with V for valor for his actions in combat. In the second action, Murphy crawls through 100 yards of mud to destroy a German tank with rifle grenades. The action will later be depicted in To Hell and Back, the story of Murphy's heroism in World War II. Murphy then spends another week in a hospital with a second bout of malaria. Staff Sergeant Audie Murphy, now with two Bronze Stars, is with American forces when they liberate Rome on June 4th, 1944.

He will be there for two months, the first extended period of rest his outfit has had after nearly a year of combat. On August 15th, 1944, the Third Division lands on the beaches of southern France in Operation Dragoon. Murphy's platoon is ordered to attack what's called Pillbox Hill, thick with German machine gun emplacements. As my rifle platoon and I moved inland from the beach, said Murphy, we were halted by machine gun fire from a rocky ridge. We dropped to the ground and crawled quickly to cover.

There was only one thing to do and I could not ask any of my men to do it. Well, Murphy needs to find a way up the hill that offers some protection and takes off by himself to do so. He dashes through bullets to a narrow draw and begins working his way up the hill. He kills two Germans who are moving down the draw and wounds a third. He then finds himself in a firefight with two enemy foxhole positions. He's close to overrunning those positions when he runs out of ammunition. Murphy retreats back down the draw to his platoon and tells his men he might be able to clear a path for them with a machine gun. Murphy makes a dash for the beach. Bullets are whizzing all around him.

He finds a machine gun squad, borrows one of their.30 caliber machine guns and dashes through bullets back to his platoon. In Murphy's words, the longest 40 yards I have ever run. As Murphy gets ready to go up the draw again, his best friend, Lydie Tipton, says, I'm going to. The Tennessean Tipton and the Texan Murphy, both country boys, had shared foxholes ever since the invasion of Sicily. Shortly after hitting the beach that day, Tipton was shot through the left ear and he's bleeding a lot. Murphy orders him back to the beach for medical treatment, but Tipton refuses to go. Murphy relents and the two of them make a dash for the draw.

And you're listening to Dr. Roger McGrath tell the story of Audie Murphy. And after Pearl Harbor is attacked, well, Audie is 16 years old and he's thinking, heck, I'm going to try and enlist. And when that doesn't work, when he turns 17, he asks his sister to sign for him. And the sister's hesitant. Of course, something happens to her baby brother.

She'll blame herself forever, but he's insistent. And in the end, at the age of 17, he's in the army and he's doing basic in Texas. And he's earned the nickname quickly of baby by his first sergeant.

That would change. And of course, that would change because of his insistence of not being at the back of the line, but the front of the line and not in any part of the army, but the infantry itself. The front of the line of the infantry is who he was.

And he served only three years, as we heard from Audie Murphy himself. But boy, during those three years, what combat, what action he saw. And there was heavy action in Italy. It's one of the most underappreciated aspects of the European campaign.

When he finally got to Rome for the first time in a year, and imagine that, folks, for the first time in a year, he gets to just take a break from combat. When we come back, more of the remarkable story of Audie Murphy here on Our American Story. I'm thirsty.

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That's DimeBeautyCO.com. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Audie Murphy, World War II's most decorated soldier. Let's continue the story with Dr. Roger McGrath. They were able to get the machine gun in a position to fire on the German machine gun emplacements and they silenced one, killing the gun crew. They then turn the machine gun on the second German emplacement and suddenly they see a white flag waving. This looks funny, Tipton said, but I'm going up and get him.

Keep me covered. Murphy yells at him to keep down, but Tipton stands up and as soon as he does, a burst of machine gun fire sends him tumbling backwards and rolling into Murphy. Tipton is dead. Murphy is set into a rage. He races forward toward the German emplacement, firing his M1 carbine and hurling grenades. He kills the German gun crew, picks up the German machine gun and firing it from his hip, advances on the German strong point. Bullets and grenade fragments from the Germans dance around Murphy, but he continues to advance, killing two Germans who come out to stop him. In a final fierce firefight, Murphy kills two more Germans and wounds two.

Five others surrender. Murphy is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for the action. It should have been a Medal of Honor. Tipton is posthumously awarded with a bronze star and purple heart.

The Third Division is in continual action as it pushes north through France. On September 15, 1944, Murphy is wounded when a mortar shell explodes near him and he receives his first of three purple hearts. During the first week of October, Murphy is awarded the Silver Star twice.

First when he takes out a German machine gun emplacement, killing four Germans and wounding three others. The second Silver Star is awarded when, lugging a radio, he crawls through heavy enemy fire to a position where he can direct his platoon's fire on a German hilltop position. The battle goes on for an hour and all the time Murphy is subjected to enemy fire. Murphy's fire direction enables his platoon to take the German stronghold, leaving 15 enemy dead and 35 wounded. On October 14, 1944, Staff Sergeant Audie Murphy is made Second Lieutenant Audie Murphy. He earlier was offered a commission but turned it down when told he would have to be transferred from his unit.

This time he accepts when told he will not have to transfer. On October 26, Murphy's platoon comes under fire from a trio of German snipers. Murphy goes after them alone, stealthily tracking and stalking them. He brings back one captive, then another. In a long-distance rifle duel with a third sniper, Murphy is wounded but then puts a bullet between the eyes of the German sharpshooter. Murphy's wound earns him another purple heart but puts him in the hospital and out of action for two months. When he returns to the front, it's in what's called the Kolmar Parka, an area of fierce German resistance at the eastern edge of the French province of Alsace, just west of the Rhine River. The frozen ground is covered with snow and it's snowing intermittently.

It's bitterly cold. Murphy's leading his platoon on January 24, 1945, when he's wounded in both legs but stays in the fight. He's awarded another purple heart and made commander of his company, Company B, or Baker Company.

Companies are usually led by captains. Murphy is still a second lieutenant. Baker Company, now only a fraction of full strength, comes under attack by a superior German force of infantry and tanks on January 26. The German infantrymen are from the elite 2nd Mount Division and they're clad in white to blend in with the snow. An American tank destroyer fires on the German tanks, but return fire leaves the tank destroyer a blazing wreck, killing its commander and gunner.

Three surviving crew members climb out of the wreck and race to the nearby woods. Murphy orders his men to also take cover in the same woods, while he remains in an exposed position to direct American artillery fire using a field telephone. I remember being mad as hell when Murph told us to go back, said PFC Irv Kelly. We wanted to stay and fight by his side. The artillery fire slows but doesn't stop the German advance. As they close in on Murphy, he picks off German infantrymen using his M1 carbine, but there are 250 of them and they're supported by a half dozen tanks. They keep coming and are closing in on Murphy. Over the phone from battalion headquarters comes an inquiry concerning the location of the attacking Germans.

If you hold the phone, says Murphy, I'll let you talk to one of them. What Murphy does next is described by eyewitness Lieutenant Walter Weisfemme as the bravest thing I've ever seen a man do in combat. With the Germans 100 yards away, he climbed onto the tank destroyer turret and began firing its.50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Krauts. He was completely exposed to the enemy fire, and there was a blaze under him that threatened to blow the destroyer to bits. Machine gun, machine pistol and 88 shell fire was all around him. Twice the tank destroyer was hit by direct shell fire and Lieutenant Murphy was engulfed in clouds of smoke and spurts of flame.

His clothing was riddled by fine fragments of shells. I saw that his trouser leg was soaked with blood. Murphy himself recalled the concussion from the German tank shells. I remember getting the hell shook out of me, but that was nothing new.

I also remember for the first time in three days, my feet were warm. With flames looking at his legs, Murphy continues firing at the advancing Germans who are falling by the twos and threes. The German infantrymen, said Sergeant Elmer Brawley, got within 10 yards of Lieutenant Murphy, who killed them in the draws, in the meadows, in the woods. Murphy's withering fire kills 50 Germans and wounds that many more. The attack falters, then stops, and the Germans retreat. Murphy climbs off the tank destroyer and limps towards the woods.

Seconds later, the tank destroyer explodes. Without Murphy's heroic stand, Company B would have been annihilated. Murphy is awarded the Medal of Honor.

And you've been listening to Dr. Roger McGrath tell the story of Audie Murphy, and what a story indeed. I think one of the most important points made during that particular part of the story was the fact that he turned down a promotion to stay with his unit. And he understood what unit cohesion meant, and he understood what he was doing at the time, and that a promotion wasn't as important as the task at hand.

And it reflects his character, his nature, and so much more. And then, of course, being awarded the Medal of Honor, not an easy thing to do, very rare, as you know. But what he did sparked this comment from a superior officer. It's the bravest thing I've ever seen a man do in combat, and that's not just an exaggeration.

Indeed, read the citation. Go to the Arlington National Cemetery site and read the story, or go to the Medal of Honor's website and read more about just this particular battle and what Murphy did. And just as always, a sense of, well, aw shucks, for the first time in days, three days, my feet were warm. That's what Audie Murphy remembers being on top of that tank destroyer repelling that many German soldiers. And when we come back, more of this remarkable story of World War II's most decorated soldier.

We're talking about Audie Murphy here on Our American Stories. We'll be right back. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and... Wow, it's beginning to feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker, Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime, play anywhere. Play on the train, play at the store, play at home, play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for?

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Live the Chumba life at chumbacusino.com. Welcome to the world of Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, the perfect gift for the music lover in your life. And now they're $50 off until December 29th.

They even made Oprah's Favorite Things Gift Guide for 2024. They're designed to give you complete openness to your surroundings while providing rich, private sound. Want to hear what that sounds like? Picture this, a walk on a sunny winter day. You can hear the satisfying crunch of snow beneath your feet and your favorite holiday song playing.

That's the magic we're talking about. Hear life and music at the same time. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, now $50 off until December 29th.

Act fast to shop Bose's holiday deals at bose.com slash iHeart. Has TV gotten really complicated lately? You're either endlessly searching for your favorite shows or subscribing to a dozen different streaming services. You don't even save as much money when compared to the cost of old cable bills. Thankfully, Philo has changed all of that.

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He's 19 years old. Murphy is later awarded the highest decorations for valor both the French and the Belgian nations can offer. Well, Audie, as a man who is honored with every decoration his country could award and going back to your service before you were commissioned as Sergeant Audie Murphy, let's say, would you tell our listeners what was your most memorable experience of World War II? Vince, of course I had many, and I sometimes remember them, not always with great pleasure, but I think I'd have to say that the greatest thing that ever happened to me was not as a sergeant, but as a second lieutenant, or was I a first lieutenant? I've tried to forget all these things, you see, and I remember my rank at the end of the war. I think I was first lieutenant, and this was, I've even forgotten the date, but I was on a train going for a little rest in the Riviera for, oh, about three or four day pass, and I heard the announcement that the war in Europe was over, and there's nothing that could top that for me.

Well, then this was your most memorable day. It certainly was because, as I say, those three years had seemed much longer than they really were, and I saw a lot of good men come and go. When you heard the war was over, what was your first thought or reaction? Well, coming home again, I started to think about home for a change, which we didn't dare think of before because, as you know, you live from day to day, minute to minute in most cases, and suddenly I was a little frightened. Strange as it might seem, I didn't know what I'd do when I got home, and I suddenly felt just a little empty inside and a little lonely about the whole thing.

Although I was very happy the war was over, I suddenly didn't feel that I had a home. I never will forget when I ran over to hug him, and I said, Thank you, God, he's home. He came through it, and they gave him parades and stuff. They gave him bonds. They gave him money, and he took that money and bought a big two-story house, and he told my oldest sister, he said, If you and your husband will take those kids and bring them and raise them with your two boys, I'll give you that house.

So that's what he did. So we had a home. He asked us, he said, Kids, do you all like your home? We said, Oh, yeah, yeah. He said, Well, I told you that I was going to the Army, and if I came back, I'd buy a home, and you'd have a home. That, of course, tickled us to death. He was the man of his word all the way.

What he said, he meant. He was just a good, all-around good old country boy, and that makes me proud. After the war, James Cagney, one of Hollywood's greatest stars, invites Murphy to Hollywood to get him into the movies. Upon his arrival in Hollywood, Murphy, with the help of a ghostwriter, David McClure, begins working on an autobiography titled To Hell and Back.

Published in 1948, the book immediately becomes a bestseller. Murphy's first roles in movies are minor, but eventually appears in 44 films, starring in most of them, including To Hell and Back, the top-grossing movie of 1955. Murphy also writes 14 songs, including two that chart in the top ten. Murphy isn't thrilled with being an actor and understands his own acting skills are limited. He finds Hollywood has far more than its share of egocentric phonies. One of them is Kirk Douglas, who, in front of others, regularly challenges Murphy to see who's the fastest gun. Douglas appears in more than a dozen Westerns and simply thinks he can outdraw anyone in Hollywood.

He eagerly anticipates showing up the famous war hero. Finally, after another one of Douglas' challenges, and with the crowd gathered, Murphy agrees to a quick draw contest. Those there see Murphy's blue eyes turn icy cold, and Murphy says, but we use real bullets. Douglas looks like he's been hit with an axe. His legs turn to rubber and he wobbles backwards. Douglas never again approaches Murphy.

Murphy's first marriage ends after a couple of years, his wife unable to cope with Murphy's problems with post-traumatic stress disorder. He called me one day and he said, I'm sitting here with my.45, don't worry about a thing, I'm going to blow my brains out. And I had two seconds and I said, that's really great. He said, what do you mean? I said, why don't you do that? He said, what do you mean? I said, do it for every kid in the country who thinks you're the greatest fellow who ever lived.

That'll make everybody in the United States. Go ahead and pull the trigger. He said, you son of a bitch, and he hung up. His second marriage, which is to Pam Archer, lasts for the rest of his life and produces two sons, Terry Michael Murphy and James Shannon Murphy.

Although it's a struggle, Pam is able to cope with Murphy's PTSD and after he dies, she volunteers at the Sepulveda VA for the rest of her life. The man the Germans couldn't kill, foul weather does. Flying in a twin-engine Euro Commander on May 28, 1971, the plane runs into thick clouds and heavy rain that reduce visibilities to zero. The plane crashes into a mountain in Virginia, killing all six aboard, including America's most decorated hero of World War II, Audie Murphy.

Good evening. America's most decorated soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy, used to refer modestly to himself as a fugitive from the law of averages. Now it appears the law of averages has caught up with Audie Murphy. On a wooded mountain near Roanoke, Virginia this afternoon, rescue workers found six bodies and no survivors in the remains of a private plane the 46-year-old Murphy and a group of businessmen had taken in a flight from Atlanta, Georgia last Friday.

Murphy, who lived in North Hollywood, California, leaves a wife and two teenage sons. I hadn't been in Germany since the end of World War II, and then I'd seen most of the country over a gun sight. In those days, over 15 years ago, I never thought I'd return here as the guest of the Army to find our former enemy's close allies.

I never thought I'd have a chance to see this again either. It's Hitler's Stadium in Nuremberg. Once a triumphant monument to Nazism, it was here Hitler boasted that his party would rule the world for a thousand years. While people were calling him a fool and a little corporal, he was using his evil genius to build one of the strongest armies on earth.

Don't think the transformation was easy. I knew a lot of guys who died to make this place an inconspicuous dot in history. Their blood feeds the wheat you see growing now.

Men who wanted to live just as much as you and I. What you have seen here is history. But history has a way of speaking firmly to the past, the present, and the future.

And it tells us now in no uncertain terms that the price of peace is eternal vigilance. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to Dr. Roger McGrath, who's the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes, Violence on the Frontier, a U.S. Marine, and former history professor at UCLA. Dr. McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries. He's a frequent and regular contributor here at Our American Stories, and we're so blessed to have him as a part of our team. That's what it feels like at this point, these many years later, and still this kind of inspired storytelling, reminding us of who we were, right, always reminding us of who we were. I love when he said that the greatest thing that ever happened to me happened on a train on the way to rest on the Riviera when I heard the announcement that the war in Europe was over.

And, of course, then came his book when he came back to hell and back, a bestseller in 48, the top grossing movie of 1955, that harrowing moment when he thought he wanted to end his life. And a friend of his, well, it wasn't exactly hug therapy. It was a tremendous insight he shared with his friend.

And that insight, well, prevented a real tragedy. By the way, the list, the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Award, which is second to the Medal of Honor, three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, and, of course, five French Awards and a Belgian Award for Service. By the way, he was doing none of this for the awards. You can't try and earn them.

By the way, he racked up those awards by the time he was 19. Audie Murphy's story here on Our American Stories. We've all got a thing, an obsession. For some of us, it's vintage fashion, our cars, anything we can collect. They all live under one roof, eBay. It's where closets get filled with statement pieces and vintage finds, where must-have sneakers wait for you, and designer handbags are the real deal. On eBay, doors open to stacks of the rarest trading cards and a garage stocked with all the car parts you need for any DIY job. eBay's home to whatever thing you're into that keeps you up at night. eBay, things people love. What's up?

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