Citation Needed - Audie Murphy - The Most Decorated Combat Soldier of WW2

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

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 ha...s 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello and welcome to Citation Eated, the podcast where we choose a subject, read a single article about it on Wikipedia, and pretend we're experts because this is the internet and that's how it works now. I'm Eli Bosnik and I'll be leading the charge tonight, but I'll need some grunts to hop to with me. First up, the two most decorated members of the podcast by blowing locks alone, Cecil and Noah. Probably not the only time this episode you'll hear hair comment on.
Starting point is 00:00:48 It is forcing anybody to go after Cecil in a battle of wordplay is cruel, Eli. You just do it as Noah and Cecil next. And also joining us tonight are two red badges of courage, Heath and Todd. That's a book. I knew that. I read books. In combat combat not so much a red badge of courage is like a brown stain of fear, but sure Before we begin tonight, I'd like to thank our patrons patrons just a dollar a week You dive onto the grenade of poverty and prevent us from the most horrifying war of all The capitalist war on the workplace if you'd like to learn how to join their ranks Be sure to stick around till the end of the show. And with that out of the way, tell us, Tom, what person, place, thing, concept, phenomenon, or event will we be talking about today?
Starting point is 00:01:32 Today we will be talking about the most decorated U.S. combat soldier, Audie Murphy. And Cecil, why Audie Murphy? Well, today I want to talk about a guy that killed 240 Nazis and I have no ulterior motives for it. Zero. Audie Murphy was born in a small town in northeast Texas. His family had 12 kids and he was number seven. His parents were white sharecroppers, so a pretty poor upbringing.
Starting point is 00:02:00 Second only to Cecil. How many refinery explosions? Did he survive? They also say in the Wikipedia entry that he had a pretty bad temper as a kid and also had mood swings. His father sort of phased in and out of his family for several years and then just finally fell out completely. So at the age of 10-ish years, he drops out of school and he gets a job. I feel like it's weird to include his nine-year-old
Starting point is 00:02:31 temperament in his bio, right? It's relevant. Okay, but mad respect to a nine-year-old with a temper so severe, it makes it quick. Well, yeah, that's true. 100 years later. Respect is fair. Yeah. He gets a job picking cotton at a whopping $1 a day. Yeah, that's true. A hundred years later. Respect. That's fair. Right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:46 He gets a job picking cotton at a whopping $1 a day. Now in 2025 money, that's $23 a day or a little over three hours of a 2025 federal minimum wage. God. Unless you're a tipped employee, in which case it's way less. He also, at this age, starts hunting to help feed his family. They mention it here that he became skilled with a rifle and pin in that for some Nazi killing later.
Starting point is 00:03:14 At the age of 16 in 1941, his mother died of pneumonia. Hold still, Ma, what part of your lungs do you feel the worst in? December of 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. Audi tried to get into the service. Pretty late. It was pretty late. It was a little slow.
Starting point is 00:03:36 He tried to get into the service by the application trifecta. He applied to the army, the Navy and the Marines. And all three rejected him because one, he was too young and two, he was underweight. His sister provided the army recruitment with a falsified birth certificate and said he was a year older than he actually was. And he was accepted into the army in June of 1942. He applied. He comes back.
Starting point is 00:04:04 He's like, actually I was born earlier now. You know what? I'm a member. This is just crossed off. This is just, you just weren't an exit. You know what? Welcome in. Welcome to the army. What number did I say?
Starting point is 00:04:21 He gained weight too. Yeah. He must have missed the part where he's like, well, you know, you were too young and you were underweight, but now you're just old enough and underweight so you He's got rocks in his pocket Well anyway He goes through bracelet basic training and is given a marksmanship badge and an expert badge For his sweet bayonet skills bayononet skills? That's just, that's fucking stabbing, right? He was really good at stabbing. Like, marksmanship, man. He got
Starting point is 00:04:52 a fucking badge. But Heath, aren't you kind of worried about the guys in the company who didn't earn that marionette badge? God damn it, Phil! Phil, it's the pointy end! You want them to line up in front of you? Yeah. Okay. So I know this happens a lot in ship, but it's gotta be really depressing to get the rejection letter when the job you're applying for is stand in front of the bullets for you, right? But he was underweight, so he didn't catch a lot of bullets. He joined the Mediterranean theater in February of 1942, and he started out as a platoon messenger, and he was promoted twice in two months. Private first class in May and corporal in July. He gets upgraded from platoon messenger to division runner, which sounds like a bigger
Starting point is 00:05:38 job for the same pay. In 1943, he participated in Operation Avalanche, which is when the Allies landed in southwestern Italy. He had been in combat before and he had killed two fleeing Italians in Sicily, but this is where things get a little more intense. Ah, yeah, start the story with a celebration of the bravery of shooting men in the back as they flee. Yeah, no, it's going to get more intense than that though, Tom, don't worry. Okay, but like Italian Nazis, I'm cool with it. Thank you, yes, Italians.
Starting point is 00:06:11 Racist. You don't do that to German people. Garlic scented Nazi. He was in a scouting party near a river, and he and two other soldiers were ambushed by Nazis. One of the soldiers he's with goes down right away to machine gun fire. Murphy and the other soldier fight back, killing five Nazis with grenades and some machine gun fire for good measure. A month later, Murphy is in another battle. This time his fellow soldiers fought off an attack of seven
Starting point is 00:06:41 Nazis, killing four of them and taking three prisoners. At this point, he's promoted again to Staff Sergeant. After his promotion, Murphy gets malaria and is put in the hospital. He stays only eight days and rejoins the fight. A few days later, he's promoted to Platoon Sergeant. Now, yeah, you know the war's going great for your size when surviving malaria earns you a promotion. Okay, but I feel like not surviving is at least a defective deforestation, right? In March of that year, he and his platoon were taking shelter during a rainstorm in a farmhouse.
Starting point is 00:07:17 The house stood on a small hill that allowed the occupants to see a vital nearby road. While there, a column of 20 Nazi tanks just slowly rides by like they own the place, but they didn't realize that Murphy and his platoon had placed mines on the road the night before. Now, Murphy is like a kid that can't wait till Christmas to unwrap his presents, so he decides to use what they call a landline.
Starting point is 00:07:43 Now, this is a phone that uses a wire to connect to another phone. It's wild stuff. He uses that phone to call in an airstrike on the column of tanks. Okay, when you said unwrap his presence, I thought it was gonna be like a skin thing. The first airstrike was off target, but Murphy was still on the line with the artillery and gave him an adjustment. Second barrage hit and disabled the first tank on the road and the rest just slowly five-point turned out of there and went back down the road they came from. Murphy was tasked with finishing off the disabled tank. He crawled in the mud up until he was about
Starting point is 00:08:25 15 meters away and they decided to throw some Molotov cocktails onto the tank. But neither two that he threw ignited. So he crawled up to the tank, opened the hatch, threw a grenade down inside, and of course it exploded. You'd think that motherfucker would be locked, right? Why would I keep it locked? There was a time we thought that about cockpits too. Yeah, that's fair. The enemy that was nearby opened fire on Murphy, who then responded by sprinting away and firing six grenades from the grenade launcher at the Nazis and their tank.
Starting point is 00:09:02 He blew off the treads of the tank and was able to get to safety. Hey, Audie, you're back. You done, um, fist fighting that tank or whatever? I ate your beans. It seemed like you were doing it alone, so. He received the Bronze Star with the V-device. V-device means he not only got a Bronze Star for heroism, but he got a V for valor He he gets a few more medals a second bronze star with an oak leaf cluster and an infantryman badge He didn't get these for a particular mission just sort of a way to recognize a bunch of things He did while he was on patrol shortly after he winds up getting malaria again and is hospitalized again before going off to the south of France. Doctors like, for the last time, Audi, we're not willing to throw a grenade down there
Starting point is 00:09:54 to flush your mouth. Yeah. You would expect that at this point, even the mosquitoes would know better than to fuck with him. But, they don't. Get this guy a gin and tonic or something. Come on. In August of 1944, Murphy and his platoon were making their way through a vineyard in
Starting point is 00:10:12 France and they got ambushed by Nazis. Murphy tells his troops to stay in cover and he takes his M1 carbine and splits from the platoon. Murphy killed two of the Germans that were coming down toward him from the top of the hill. He's under heavy fire and he wounds another German and he engages with another group in a foxhole nearby. He runs out of ammunition at this point, goes back to where his troops are and takes a machine gun from the soldiers. Then he heads back up and fires on these foxholes, but then he runs out of ammo again. Okay, where's everybody else? Are they doing a wine tasting at the vineyard?
Starting point is 00:10:48 Help kill the Nazis! We're good, you got this, eh, dogs? Exactly! Let me know if you need another gun, then. Save me some! Oh yeah, for sure. He goes back down... Sounded ingenuine.
Starting point is 00:11:04 He goes back down the hill to get his carbine and his best friend, Laddie Timpton, convinces him to let him come along. Dude, you're hogging all the war. Come on. They fight their way back up the hill throwing some grenades and Timpton gets part of his ear shot off, but they manage to destroy a machine gun placement. At this point, two Nazis come out of a nearby house and they look like they're trying to surrender.
Starting point is 00:11:30 Tipton goes to take them prisoner and they shoot and kill him. So Murphy, still detached from the group, throws several grenades, opens fire on the house, makes it to the machine gun placement and takes their machine gun. They return fire, but Audi keeps moving toward the house, killing six Nazis and wounding two with their gun.
Starting point is 00:11:55 Okay, you're just saying Wolfenstein 3D out loud. That's all you're saying. The 11 inside the house that are left alive, they decide it's better to actually surrender this time So he takes it. Yeah, no shit his platoon takes the area. He's individually awarded the distinguished The distinguished service cross and his regiment gets the presidential unit citation Unit Citation Yay! We did it together! Us and Audi! Hahaha Better be some fucking Borgoloft
Starting point is 00:12:30 Alright, well I don't know about you guys But I've straight up got a Ram... Boner So while I take a cold shower, we'll take a quick break What is that? Rambo? Rambo is a movie about a guy who... Hahaha Thank you of nothing Rambo is a movie about a guy
Starting point is 00:12:59 I'm telling you man it's when she comes from Alabama. What's Alabama? That's not even a place man. But it's an expression though Chris. You guys. Uh, hey. Hey, how's it going man? I'll tell you how it's going. I'm fresh from the kill. He's die-froling again. You can just like walk man. No time. Heard enemy movement on the ridge so, wait to check it out.
Starting point is 00:13:24 During times of platoon and Nazi tanks squadron, 33 men. Oh yeah? Yeah, I killed two with Betsy. Ha! Which meant I could get behind their line. Sorry, Betsy? It's what he calls the knife. Right, right, the knife. Yeah, I encircled the tank, took out two hostiles, swung her around, opened fire on the platoon, cleaned up the stragglers by hand, you know. 44 of them in all all counted. Oh, you're done. Yeah, great job, man. Great job
Starting point is 00:13:49 Yeah, all in a day's work. How do you settle a bet for us? Are the lyrics to she'll be coming around the mountain when she comes from? Alabama or is it I don't know any songs Just a song about battle. Yeah, sure Yeah, I'm gonna go look for some more people. You do that, Audi. You do that. And there's the dive roll. I'm gonna eat your beans, okay?
Starting point is 00:14:12 Hey, podcast listener. I'm Heath Henright. And I'm Heath Henright. And I'm Tom Curry. You know, we have some fun here on Citationated about how busy Tom can be, but more folks are pressed for time than ever before. Pro tip, I only poop when I sleep now. Right, cool.
Starting point is 00:14:44 You could do that or you could try Factor. What's Factor? Factor has chef-made gourmet meals that make eating well easy. They're dietitian-approved and ready to heat and eat in two minutes so you can fuel right and feel great no matter what life throws at you. Like when I got struck by lightning this morning.
Starting point is 00:15:03 Exactly. So with 40 options across eight dietary preferences on the menu each week, it's easy to pick meals tailored to your goals. Choose from preferences like Calorie Smart, Protein Plus or even vegan options. I don't know Heath. Have you actually tried it? I sure have. I was a Factor customer before they even became a sponsor. I love that they let me eat great on the go without any prep or clean up. All right, Heath, I'm sold.
Starting point is 00:15:29 Where do I sign up? Eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com slash factor podcast and use the code factor podcast to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's code factor podcast at factor meals.com slash factor podcast to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box plus free shipping. That's code FactorPodcast at factor meals dot com slash factor podcast. You get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. Fantastic. Now can I talk about slooping? It's deeply important to me that you don't. You're missing out.
Starting point is 00:15:57 I don't think I am. Who's ready to level up their mental fitness and win the seconds of the day? Well, at least that's my goal. Join me, Mark Champagne, on Behind a Human, a podcast where I dive into the stories and practices of extraordinary individuals. From billionaires to Olympians and cultural icons like Tony Hawk,
Starting point is 00:16:16 each episode unveils the pathways and the mental fitness strategies that propel them to the top. Now available on all major podcast platforms. Here's thriving minds And we're back. When we left off, the killing machine was just revving up. What happened next? So true, too.
Starting point is 00:16:52 This gets worse. All right. Murphy got his silver star in October of 1944. It took the slacker long enough. He was with his platoon in the eastern part of France, just southwest of Strasbourg. There was a very steep hill with lots of passageways carved out of the side of it. There was also a network of tunnels that worked their way up the side of this hill. The Nazis were dug in with machine guns and can move pretty quickly from point to
Starting point is 00:17:21 point up the side of the hill while they were still in cover. There was a group of machine gunners and snipers stopping the advance of the allied troops. A couple of colonels and a captain, along with some other troops, decided to visit the front lines that day. So the group, rejecting the advice of Murphy, decided to go up the side of the hill to see if they could find the places where the Germans were shooting from. Oh for fuck's sake. So you're saying that people are getting shot when they stand right here doing exactly this?
Starting point is 00:17:53 Murphy decides to go up as well. Just a little bit to the right. He does this without their knowledge. He's about 25 yards from them shadowing their movements as they climb this hill Well, when you know what the Nazis let him pass and then open fire on their position The group of officers and soldiers are pinned down in an area where they really can't move While they're just barely out of the line of fire. They're basically a great target for an eventual grenade Okay, I do have to say, the sheer volume of grenades in this story vastly exceeded my expectations.
Starting point is 00:18:27 A lot of grenades. Seems like it is a lot. It's just all grenades, just backpacks full of grenades. Does he look like a bandolier of that shit? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Murphy, from behind his boulder nearby,
Starting point is 00:18:39 calls out to them, telling them to remain calm and that he is on it. Hey, idiots. You didn't see this very large boulder in this fucking open field. You just went into the open field. All right, whatever. Just, just relax. I got this on my own.
Starting point is 00:18:52 It's cool. So he jumped. I'm doing slow mo. He jumps out from behind the boulder with his M1 carbine in one hand and a grenade in the other. He's still doing jazz. Surprises the machine gun crew that was firing on the other soldiers and they pivot to shoot at him, but they catch the barrel on some brush and they miss Murphy, but just barely.
Starting point is 00:19:20 Murphy taking advantage of the barrel getting stuck in the brush. Nope. I plan that. I plan that he throws the grenade and he opens fire before the grenade lands. He kills two of the Germans with shots to the stomach. The grenade. That's what the account said. The grenade snowball. Maybe Tom, maybe he threw it up really high and their eyes went up like a dog.
Starting point is 00:19:46 That's the problem. And then he's like, WAP WAP WAP! Oh, it's a pop-up! It's a pop-up! The grenade goes off and Murphy throws off two more and he continues firing. He kills four Nazis that were in the foxhole, wounds three of them, and the one that got up to run away was shot down as he fled. Okay, so apparently like everything I made up in slow motion as a kid playing with toy guns this guy actually invented in real life. That's awesome. It is so hard to picture any of this shit without him going
Starting point is 00:20:18 pew pew as he does all of it, right? Three days later he's walking down a creek bed nearby. Along the side of the creek, in a concealed position, a group of Germans open fire on him and his platoon. The Nazis immediately kill seven of his 27 men as they run for cover. Murphy calls to his soldiers behind him to take cover and he tries to assess where the enemy is located. He starts moving with the six men in tow and a machine gun starts firing on them and kills
Starting point is 00:20:48 or wounds four men before they can make it to different cover. So while they're being fired at by the enemy, he and his men take out their entrenching tools and while lying on their backs, just dig out shallow depressions. Sorry, make a dirt angel. And while lying on their backs, just dig out shallow depressions. Sorry, make a dirt angel. Is that what you said? Make a dirt angel. Wow, I'm getting shot at right now. Shallow depression, impression.
Starting point is 00:21:17 That's an impression. If it said impression, that joke would have really killed. But this was depression. Impression is similar to two different words. That's an impression. If it said impression, that joke would have really killed. Well, depression and impression are similar. Two different words. Don't kill Natalie Wood. No. Which stole all the cocaine.
Starting point is 00:21:38 When the men are... Cocaine hogs. When the men are quasi safe in their freshly dug foxholes slash shallow graves, Murphy decided to move forward on his own to see if he could find out where the enemy was shooting from. So he belly crawls in the mud, hiding in every slight hole he can find to try to stay out of sight of the gunners. He gets about 50 yards closer and is able to see the foxhole that the
Starting point is 00:22:05 German snipers are in. They're about 200 yards from him and he's able to kill two of the snipers from this position and then get on a walkie-talkie and direct mortar rounds onto the rest of the Germans where they're at from his location. Some remaining Nazis tried to run for it but they were they were killed as they fled and this is how he got his second Silver Star. Motherfucker's gonna have a whole constellation by the end of this one. But at this point, you're slowing down his crawling, and he does a lot of crawling. Yeah, that's true.
Starting point is 00:22:39 Next season we're gonna learn that the A-bomb we dropped in Japan was just Audi Murphy. It's Piotr Moczak. That's why they call me Little Boy! They took his gun away and gave him Wolverine claws. Yeah. Now, before I tell you about how he gets his Medal of Honor, I should tell you about how he got his three Purple Hearts. The first one was in September of 1944. He was on his way to Battalion headquarters when he met a group of new soldiers. three purple hearts. The first one was in September of 1944.
Starting point is 00:23:05 He was on his way to battalion headquarters when he met a group of new soldiers. He stopped to talk to them and as he did, a mortar shell landed literally between his feet. Murphy is thrown through the air, knocked unconscious, but the men he was having a conversation with all died. I guess being at the epicenter of the explosion is the best place to be when you're hit by a mortar as the shrapnel isn't going to cut your legs and blow your heel off your boot instead of penetrating your head and neck area, which are pretty vital.
Starting point is 00:23:38 Oh wow guys, it's basic karate. You got to get inside, you're all dead. I was going to say inside the guard. Yeah, Audie Murphy somehow submitted a mortar shell. It only taps once and it is very pronounced. It's just Steven Seagal using the back of his hand to move the mortar shell away from him. It just pushes it away.
Starting point is 00:24:02 Second Purple Heart injury was next month. He was moving behind a friendly barrage of artillery when a group of German snipers that were camouflaged and in the forest opened fire. Murphy dove for cover behind a tree, but a shot from the second sniper bounced off a tree trunk and it hit him in his hip. His radio operator was not so lucky and he got shot above his left eye killing him. As Murphy fell, he dove to the ground and his helmet came off and it rolled a few yards away. The German sees the helmet in the bush and he thinks it's attached to someone's head. So he tosses off some of
Starting point is 00:24:39 the camouflage cover to get a better shot. As the Nazi is shooting at the unoccupied helmet, Murphy raises up his gun like a pistol and he shoots the guy right between the eyes. That's what the account said. That's what the account said. I think we're pulling out that absurdly long gun. Yeah, honestly based on the story so far I'm surprised he didn't hit the bullet back at him like a pickleball. Right? With a curve on it. I'm sorry, why did we send anyone else to this war at all? didn't hit the bullet back at him like a pickleball with a curve on it.
Starting point is 00:25:05 I'm sorry, why did we send anyone else to this war at all? Like there should just be fucking this guy and a cook and that's the allied powers. This guy, a cook, and a guy to hold up his WWE belt and walk into the ring with him. Someone's got to carry his balls around too, I guess. Jesus. When he's medevaced out of there, he isn't able to get to a hospital for a few days and he develops gangrene. And he throws a grenade at it.
Starting point is 00:25:31 Kind of. He has to spend several weeks in the hospital as they remove the infection and several large pieces of his butt. He goes back to action and he gets wounded again on January 25th, 1945. Okay, you know he's showing off the missing ass chunks all the time. Right.
Starting point is 00:25:50 Yeah, his version of the jaw scene is very awkward. It's really uncomfortable for everyone involved. He puts him in a jar and it's now the battle of Murphy's ass, you know, and he carries it out. His group is hit with a heavy mortar barrage and several people are killed but Murphy survives it with superficial wounds. I guess the mortar that hit near him didn't explode the way it should have instead of producing like a big a few big chunks of shrapnel.
Starting point is 00:26:15 It was like a fine cloud of splinters. So his left leg got sprayed with these and he used his field kit to clean out what he could. Okay, definitely a hero. But at this point, I don't want him anywhere near my fucking platoon. He's like a Nazi mortar magnet. Just constantly. Right?
Starting point is 00:26:33 It's true. The next day, the Germans counter-attack the allies in the area and try to take back the wooded section with two companies of soldiers and six heavy tanks. Now the one thing that this group didn't know is that the commander of the line they're assaulting is none other than Audi Murphy, who took command of this area earlier in the day when the commanding officer was wounded in the fight.
Starting point is 00:26:56 His defending group has two M10 tank destroyers with it, which is just the name of a tank we had. It had a 50-caliber machine gun on it and it had an anti-tank weapon on it, but it wasn the name of a tank we had. It had a 50-cali machine gun on it, and it had an anti-tank weapon on it, but it wasn't really all that special. Oh, I'm sorry, Cecil, is your concern that we were going to write off this story because the machine gun did all the work? Like, it's okay. Well, I mean, it's not so special because the Germans, when they attacked, they immediately took out the tanks in short order. Germans basically climbed over everything in their way with troops and tanks closing
Starting point is 00:27:30 in on the allied forces. Murphy orders his units to retreat but he stays there on the phone with the artillery forces and he directs their fire which starts taking out Nazis and the troops on the line. He sees that he has a chance to make it to one of the disabled tanks. So he takes this chance and he runs for it. And he punches the tank right in its tank balls. He makes it to the now flaming M10 and he climbs on top of it. Oh for fuck's sake.
Starting point is 00:28:03 He mans the 50 caliber machine gun and he opens up on top of it. All for fuck's sake. He mans the 50 caliber machine gun and he opens up on the German soldiers. In between bursts of machine- Grand Theft Auto, but tanks. He rides a motorcycle and then jumps off of it and like lands inside of a tank at the machine gun. In between bursts of the machine gun fire, he's on the phone with the artillery people directing mortars into the Germans.
Starting point is 00:28:27 At some point, either the telephone stops working or the line is cut, which also makes the telephone stop working. But that doesn't stop Murphy, who stays on top of the tank, firing round after round and then stopping to reload belts of ammo into the gun. Artillery, I'm so sorry. I'm going to have to let you go. I'm doing that crazy screaming machine gun thing. You understand. Thank you so much. Nice. Okay.
Starting point is 00:28:53 Yeah. I will talk to you guys later. Can he eat my bite? Bye bye. Now the Germans aren't sure where he is. There's a tank that's on fire and I guess they can't see what's up there because of this line. Quote, fortunately, the Germans were having
Starting point is 00:29:09 a difficult time locating the source of the murderous fire being poured on them, end quote. I think it's over here, I'm dead. I didn't tell anybody, I should have. While he's unloading with this machine gun, his location is hit not once, but twice with artillery rounds now the rounds don't kill him or hurt him that much he counts as that why would they
Starting point is 00:29:29 most stunned for a few moments before he would open up fire again come on also at some point the wound in from the day before and his leg opens up but he keeps firing okay it's like a like a guitar players fingers with this guy, but for bombs and your whole right. Right. It would have been weird if he's like, Oh, fuck the wound from yesterday opened up. I have to, I have to call this guy's time out. Don't worry. I was just going to put a capo on my entire fucking body. I will say though that 50 caliber invisibility cloak came in hand here than anybody probably thought. Now he's killing scores of Nazis at this point.
Starting point is 00:30:15 One group looks to be making their way to him, crawling in a ditch, getting close, but he notices them, opens fire and kills them all. After some time, the Nazi tanks fuck off Start of retreating and they and so do the rest of the the people with them I guess fucking crazy man. We gotta get out here. Well the tanks they really needed ground troops nearby to protect them when Most of those people get killed the troops all the troops fell back So Murphy after seeing them leave stops firing climbs down from the tank the tank is full of fuel and ammunition and
Starting point is 00:30:51 he was just on top standing there and firing the gun but he waited until he's he was off it and walking away for it to explode it probably exploded in slow motion for him. You know he flicked a cigarette over his shoulder. To like a sweet guitar lick too for sure. Murphy refused medical aid, rounded up the troops and pressed a counter attack. Sorry, come with you? Honestly man, feels like you got this. This is on you. Can you imagine how demoralizing it had to be later when the Nazis found out they lost a whole ass battle to one guy?
Starting point is 00:31:33 Yeah, right. Well, dude. Murphy was moved from the front lines to regimental headquarters after this, and he received the Medal of Honor. When he came home, he struggled with sleeping pill addiction and what they called battle fatigue. He had headaches, vomiting and nightmares. He slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow. His first wife claimed that once he held her at gunpoint while he was suffering from the disorder, I guess he was in a lot of violent altercations in his adult life. One time threatening a dog trainer and charged with battery and assault
Starting point is 00:32:05 with intent to commit murder, and he was eventually cleared of all those charges. Hey, Cecil, can I speak to you over here for a second? We were all having a lot of fun when the guy was standing on the tank firing the machine gun, and you're kind of bringing it down. I know, I'm sorry, I didn't want to wipe off. Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Starting point is 00:32:23 Hey, I'm just going to pop into the little whisper area. Hey, Heath, how you doing? Yeah, so you got to kill a lot more Nazis if you're going to fuck with a dog trainer because I feel like that's exactly what you're doing. If you endanger a dog, I need you to kill at least an area of Berlin. He eventually used his fame to speak out about PTSD and called on the government to do more to help soldiers struggling with this disorder and to give benefits to vets that were suffering from it. In fact, a few months after he died, they named a VA hospital after him.
Starting point is 00:32:53 We figured he'd like a whole building full of the problem to remember him by. Well it does seem appropriate to name something after him that kills a lot of soldiers. Oh, Jesus Christ. to name something after him that kills a lot of soldiers. He also had a movie career. He started acting in 1948. He worked in films until I feel like a lot of people, he just showed up on set and no one would say no. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. He worked until 1969 in movies and film and then on TV and film. And then he was, uh, he was in a version of the red badge of courage, a bunch of Westerns, and he eventually was convinced to play himself in a film recreating his war exploits.
Starting point is 00:33:39 The film Helen back was quote, the biggest hit in the history of Universal Studios at the time and quote in that nice guys we got that PTSD victim to relive his trauma for our entertainment yeah also I think he killed at least one production assistant he's hogging the whole craft services table the whole thing I feel like if he's in red badge of courage he's playing Henry Fleming, and he's like no not retreating and they're like Okay, it's like a big part of the fucking book. Yeah, no, it's fine. It's what you have grenades you have grenade I think you brought those from home He died at the age of 45 when a when a private plane
Starting point is 00:34:21 He was a passenger on crashed into a mountain in Virginia Virginia and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery All right, see so and if you had to summarize what you learned in one sentence What would it be this story might have convinced me to believe in the lucky Irish if I didn't know Tom It's true Tom. This is where all your luck Just already took it son of a bitch Are you ready for the quiz? Take your best shot. Alright, so it's time to melt out Audi Murphy like Demolition Man.
Starting point is 00:34:51 Yep. I didn't have a question. No, it's not. And I'm agreeing. Yes. A. Yes. A. Great idea.
Starting point is 00:34:57 Great idea. A. Cheers. Alright, let's murder some Nazis. More of a traditional question for you here, Cecil. What was the tagline for his movie? A, get ready for a Hitler hidden hit of the summer. B, the German sphere is audible.
Starting point is 00:35:17 Oh, amazing. I loved it. Get all the gritty PTS details. Or D as Certainly are that Americans will always remember that Nazis are the unequivocal bad guys and that fascism is bad Regardless of how hard you own your purple-haired niece with it. Here's yet another movie that emphasizes this point Will for the next 90 goddamn years. Hopefully you guys don't fuck it up. Oh, I think, I think you're pushing a little hard for D there. I think it's D.
Starting point is 00:35:54 Oh, Audie Murphy was certainly inspiring and heroic, but where else does his legacy live on? Hey, in every Chuck Norris joke, all of which are just toned down autobiographical details from Audie Murphy's life. Let me stop you there, Tom. All I need is A. That's it.
Starting point is 00:36:11 Hey, Tom, can you join me over here for a second? I did the one just A thing. That's all I ever do. It's kind of Tom's thing. Really, you're stepping on Tom's toes. Heath and Tom couldn't agree who got to do the one answer joke this week. So Noah wins. No, wait, Tom wins.
Starting point is 00:36:30 Yeah, sure. All right, Noah, you should write an essay. I should. All right. Well, for Noah, Heath, Cecil and Tom, I'm Eli Bosnik. Thank you for hanging out with us today. We'll be back next week. And by then, Noah will be an expert on something else. Between now and then, you can listen
Starting point is 00:36:49 to Cecil's brand new podcast, the show Rogan No Spirits, that he did not ask me to be a part of, wherever you bet your podcasts that hurt people's feelings. And you'd like to keep this show going. You can make a per episode donation at Patreon, Comp, Slay, Cetacean Pod, or give us a five star review everywhere you can. And if you'd like to get this show going you can make a per episode donation at patreon.com slash citation pod or
Starting point is 00:37:06 Everywhere you can and if you'd like to get in touch with us check out past episodes connect with us on social media Or check the show notes be sure to check out citation pod dot com And With this medal we award you the 21 gun salute enemy fire up there he goes I'm This medal, we award you the 21 gun salute. Enemy fire! Oh, there he goes.
Starting point is 00:37:29 I'm 17. Yeah, you are. Yep. I am Christopher Titus of the Titus podcast. I am Rachel. And I'm Ken Highland, AKA the Highlander. When the rest of the world is screaming insanity, we scream sanity. We do a satire comedy news and events podcast. First and foremost funny first
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