Audie Murphy
Early Life
Audie Murphy was born in Kingston, Hunt County, Texas, on June 20, 1925. His father was a sharecropper and they lived in a very rundown house. Emit, Murphy's father, fell short on his parenting responsibilities because he had 12 children and had no plan of how to feed them. Murphy picked up his father's slack, he helped to feed his big family by hunting rabbits and other animals on their property. Murphy's father deserted the family for good in 1940; and just a year later his mother passed away. Murphy wanted to do something with his life, so he decided to enlist in the army 10 days after his 18th birthday. On February of 1943 he left for North Africa, where he received extensive training.
Military Career
A few months after his training, Murphy's division moved to invade Sicily. He impressed his superior officers with his actions on the ground as was quickly promoted to corporal. In August of 1944, Murphy's division to southern France as part of Operation Dragoon. It was there that Lattie Tipton, Murphy's best friend, was lured into the open and killed by a German soldier pretending to surrender. Murphy was enraged by this act, and he alone killed the Germans that had just killed his friend. Murphy then got on the German's machine gun and fired on several more nearby enemy positions, killing of the German soldiers there. For his actions, Murphy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Murphy continued these types of courageous actions and was awarded 33 U.S. military medals over his career. Including 3 purple hearts and 1 medal of honor. On June of 1945, Murphy returned from Europe a national hero and was greeted with parades and banquets.
Later Years
In 1949, Murphy published his autobiography, "To Hell and Back". The book instantly became a national best seller and in 1955 he portrayed himself in the film version of his book. Murphy would go on to make 44 feature films in all. He also became a successful country music songwriter. Murphy divorced two times in his life, while having two kids. Murphy suffered from a condition that is now called post dramatic stress disorder; Murphy suffered from a strong addiction to sleeping pills. In his later years, Murphy lost almost all of his money from gambling and bad investment deals, and he was in financial ruin when he died in a plane crash on June 7th, 1971. He was given full military honors.
Douglas MacArthur
Early Life
Douglas MacArthur was born on an Army base in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 26, 1880. He had a family with a strong military history. Arthur, his father, was a captain at the time of Douglas' birth. Mary, Douglas' mother, was from Virginia, and her brothers had fought for the South during the Civil War. Douglas lived in several military posts during his youth. In 1893, his family moved to San Antonio, Texas, where Douglas attended the West Military Academy. This is when he began to show academic promise. After high school, MacArthur enrolled in the military academy at West Point; he graduated with honors in 1903. Following graduation, MacArthur was commissioned as a junior officer in the Army Corps of Engineers and spent the next decade fulfilling a variety of different duties.
World War I and After
At the start of World War I, MacArthur was promoted to major and assigned to intelligence and administrative units. But when the United States declared war on Germany, MacArthur was promoted to colonel and the 42nd Division was put into his command. He participated in the St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Sedan offensives of 1918, during which he repeatedly distinguished himself as a capable military leader. When he returned from Europe, MacArthur became the superintendent of West Point, which he held for the next three years. For the rest of the 1920s, MacArthur held various military posts and also headed the American Olympic Committee. In 1930, MacArthur was promoted to general and selected as the Army chief on staff. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt chose MacArthur as his military advisor to the Philippines and sent him there to establish a defensive military force.
World War II and the Korean War
In July of 1941, MacArthur was recalled to active duty and became commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific. A Japanese invasion of the Philippines that same year drove MacArthur's forces from the country. But in the years that followed, MacArthur launched a number of successful offensive operations against the Japanese military in the region. He was also openly critical of his superior's decisions to focus military resources on the war in Europe rather than in the Pacific. At the end of the war in 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed MacArthur as supreme Allied commander. When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, MacArthur was placed in command of the newly created United Nations forces and quickly drove back the attack. But he failed to anticipate attacks by attacks by the Chinese and was forced to retreat. After this defeat, MacArthur was vocal about his belief that the war should include fighting against China. Truman finally relieved MacArthur of his command in April of 1951 because he became exasperated from MacArthur's refusal to keep his opinions to himself. MacArthur then returned to the United States a national hero and died in Washington D.C., on April 5, 1964, at the age of 84. He was honored with a state funeral and was buried in the Douglas MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia. This museum is a collection documenting his life and military services to his country.