A National Insult and Injury
Two medals, many heroes, and one knucklehead
One of the most visited graves in Arlington National Cemetery has a simple headstone, one typical of the many soldiers whose remains lie in that hallowed ground.
The only reason an uninformed visitor would know that someone special lies in that grave is the flagstone walkway leading to the grave that had to be constructed to accommodate the many people who make a point of visiting the grave.
Many visitors come to see the graves of John F. Kennedy, Joe Louis, and other famous people interred at Arlington.
But many people also come to visit the grave of Audie Leon Murphy.
Murphy, the farm boy from Kingston, Texas who ended up being the most decorated US combat soldier in World War II, if not the most decorated soldier in American history.
It is usually said that combat medals are won, but in Murphy’s case, it is more accurate to say that he earned every medal.
In fact, he earned every medal for courage in combat this country offers, and several from other countries.
The medals Murphy earned include:
Distinguished Service Cross
Two Silver Stars
Legion of Merit
Two Bronze Star Medals (1 with "V" device)
Three Purple Hearts
Legion of Honour (France)
Croix de Guerre with silver star (France)
Three Croix de Guerre with palm (France)
Croix de Guerre with palm (Belgium)
One of the most prestigious medal Murphy earned was the Medal of Honor, the most prestigious award in the US military.
The same Medal of Honor disparaged by the former president as having less value than the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The former president said that the Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the Medal of Honor.
His exact words:
“Everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”
I don’t know how many people have served in the US Military, but the number is much larger than the over 3,500 people who have been awarded the Medal of Honor.
3,500-plus people isn’t everyone.
He would say such a thing because some of the Medals of Freedom he awarded during his presidency were errant awards given to some of his cronies.
Medal of Freedom recipients are supposed to have achieved at least one of the following distinctions:
"An especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
One of the two most noteworthy bestowments of the Medal of Freedom by the former president was to Miriam Adelson, a wealthy Republican megadonor and widow of fellow Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, who was the former president’s largest donor to his 2016 presidential campaign.
He also gave a Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh.
The same Rush Limbaugh whose most noteworthy contribution was being a racist, sexist xenophobe.
Adelson and Limbaugh didn’t do anything noteworthy except one gave the former president a lot of money while the other considerably lower the tenor of American political discourse.
Yet they received our country’s highest civilian honor.
Meanwhile, what did Audie Murphy do to earn the Medal of Honor?
His Medal of Honor citation reads:
"2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw…while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery ... 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver… For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position ... 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... 2d Lt. 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."
During his World War II service, Audie Murphy was credited with 241 confirmed enemy kills. Fifty of them were at the Colmar Pocket battle that earned him the Medal of Honor.
After the war, he returned to America as a hero, and eventually became an actor.
But he paid a heavy price for his heroism.
He suffered from what we now know was PTSD.
He slept with a gun under his pillow for the rest of his life.
He became addicted to pills.
He suffered financial losses.
Tragically, he died in a plane crash in 1971 just before his 46th birthday.
If you ever read about past Medal of Honor winners, you are overwhelmed, sometimes to the point of tears.
You read stories about otherwise ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices for this nation and their fellow comrades-in-arms.
Some dove upon grenades and absorbed the explosions with their bodies to save the lives of their fellow servicepeople.
Some provided cover fire for their comrades so they could escape the battlefield, suffering terrible and often fatal wounds.
Most Medals of Honor winners were earned when in their twenties or thirties.
Many Medals of Honors are awarded posthumously.
Those who earned the Medal of Honor displayed unfathomable courage.
They were not awarded the Medal of Honor because they gave a political candidate a lot of money.
They were not awarded the Medal of Honor because they trafficked in prejudice.
They gave everything so freedom could be maintained or regained.
The former president insults Kamala Harris by deliberately mispronouncing her name.
He insults and harangues anyone who says anything less than complimentary about him.
Most people he ridicules can fight back.
Many Medals of Honor winners can’t fight back because they earned their honors by dying on the battlefield.
And those who are living and could fight back probably won’t.
Those of us who can fight back, who appreciate their sacrifices must speak up and speak out.
We would not exist as a republic if it were not for people like Audie Murphy.
He and our nation deserve much, much better.