Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) [1] was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II , [4] and has been described as the most highly decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history. [5] [6] He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States Army , as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at age 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, before leading a successful counterattack while wounded.
