I actually saw Audie Murphy in an NCO Club in Germany in the late 60’s, I heard he bought drinks until the club closed. I absolutely don’t want to take anything away from him, but he may not have been “The Most Decorated WWII” serviceman, Google T/Sgt Llewellyn Chilson as one example.
"Ask any man of this century (20th) what he has done to make his life worthwhile - the best will say I’ve served (in the military)." JFK
Thanks and I appreciate the response. Here is something that I composed a couple of years ago when
Wiki kept referring to Murphy as
"one of the most decorated of WW2".
Following my composition,
Wiki now refers to him as
"the most decorated soldier of WW2."
Here is the text and I hope it helps clarify the matter or at least put it into perspective. It was originally intended to counter the claim of the Matt Urban supporters but could equally refer to Chilson, another great soldier of WW2 but
certainly not the most decorated.
Matt Urban is
not the most decorated soldier of WW2.
Urban did not receive the
French Legion of Honor or the
American Distinguished Service Cross. Please know that my attempt here is NOT to denigrate the military achievements of Colonel Urban or to insult his family. There's no doubt that in having the Medal of Honor, Colonel Urban was a hero, and, indeed, America should remember all her heroes and the price they paid. There are so many recipients more decorated and higher decorated than Colonel Urban. He simply does not belong in the classifications his proponents or the media assign him. He is
NOT the
“Most Decorated Soldier of WWII”, nor is he the
“Most Decorated in American History” — or any variation of the above.
Audie is
quantitatively and
qualitatively more highly decorated than
Colonel Matt Urban, who has
29 awards; his service medals and their appropriate devices are NOT for bravery.
Audie has
34 awards, including the Distinguished Service Cross, our second highest medal for valor, which Colonel Urban lacks. Audie also has the higher French award: the Legion of Honor (Chevalier). Audie’s Marksman and Expert Badges are not military awards, per se; they are qualification badges, and therefore
not included in the tally.
Here are Audie’s
OFFICAL AWARDS per the U.S. Army and sent to me a number of years ago:
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL AND THE ADJUTANT GENERAL CENTER WASINGTON, D.C. 20314 7SEP 1979
REPLY TO ATTENTION OF:
SUBJECT: MAJ AUDIE MURPHY - Authorization for Awards and Decoration
LIST OF AWARDS
Medal of Honor Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star with First Oak Leaf Cluster Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device and First Oak Leaf Cluster Purple Heart with Second Oak Leaf Cluster Good Conduct Medal Distinguished Unit Emblem with First Oak Leaf Cluster American Campaign Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine Campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp Armed Forces Reserve Medal Combat Infantryman Badge Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star French Croix de Guerre with Palm Medal of Liberated France Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm
Now to draw a better comparision here is a listing of
Murphy-v-Urban medals. The numbers in the
parenthesis are the
cumulative totals of each:
The totals for
Colonel Urban are as follows:
Medal of Honor (1)
Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster (3)
Legion of Merit (4)
Bronze Star with “V” Device and two oak leaf clusters (7)
Purple Heart with one Silver and one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster (14)
Presidential Unit Emblem (15)
American Defense Service Medal (16)
American Campaign Medal (17)
European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one Silver and one Bronze Service Star. (18)
World War II Victory Medal (19)
Combat Infantry Badge (20)
Belgium Fourragere (21)
French Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star (22)
The totals for
Audie Murphy are as follows:
Medal of Honor (1)
Distinguished Service Cross (2)
Silver Star Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster (4)
Legion of Merit (5)
Bronze Star Medal w/ “V” Device and one Oak Leaf Cluster (7)
Purple Heart with two Oak leaf Clusters (10)
Good Conduct Medal (11)
Distinguished Unit Emblem with one Oak Leaf Cluster (13)
American Campaign Medal (14)
European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one Silver Star, Four Bronze Stars (representing 9 campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (denoting an assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) (15)
World War Two Victory Medal (16)
World War Two Occupation Medal with “Germany Clasp” (17)
Combat Infantry Badge (18)
French Fourragere in colors of the Croix de Guerre (18)
French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier (19)
French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star (20)
French Croix de Guerre with Palm (21)
Medal of Liberated France (22)
Belgium Croix de Guerre 1940 w/Palm (23)
I
have not counted in the
culmulative totals the
devices on the
Campaign Medals, nor did I count things such as
Qualification Badges
for
either person.
Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd commented that, “The military does not rank soldiers by numbers or types of medals awarded.”
Someone recently mentioned to me that there would
NEVER be another Audie Murphy and I believe this to be partially correct.
When Audie received his Medal of Honor on June 2, 1945, he
became the most decorated soldier of WWII.
I know of
no WWII infantryman
more decorated and there is definitely
none more celebrated.
World War II was a supported war. America knew she must prevent expansion of the Nazi empire. She also realized that she must take action to further prevent massacre and tyranny, such as Germany’s resolve to eradication the Jewish people. Thus, through the carnage of war, Audie Murphy, the hero, was born.
Vietnam and Korea were not popular wars, but there were many heroes, far more - and highly - decorated than Audie, who came forth and displayed their mettle. But they lacked the notoriety, fame, and news coverage that accompanied Audie’s heroic deeds, and followed him throughout the remainder of his life. In that sense, there will never be another Audie Murphy.
The one individual who is the "Highest and Most" from the Vietnam War is Colonel Robert Lewis Howard. Colonel Howard had, including the Medal of Honor and other valor and non-valor awards, plus all the appropriate devices, a total of 89 awards. This listing includes 2 Distinguished Service Crosses; 4 Legions of Merit and 8 Purple Hearts.
Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI, who had the Medal of Honor and SEVEN Distinguished Service Crosses. Originally he had eight, but one was upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 1930. He has the quality but not the quantity.
Regulations now restrict and allow for only one Medal of Honor. If one excludes the 19 DOUBLE Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil through World War I, then the title of
"Most and Highest Decorated Soldier in American History" belongs to
General Douglas MacArthur. He has the most medaled chest of any combatant in American history with a total of
114 awards. This includes the Medal of Honor, 3 Distinguished Service Crosses and 7 Silver Stars. Yes, many of his awards were because he was General of The Army but our top THREE valor awards cannot be ignored.
Oftentimes, the layperson assumes "Most" means "Highest" and this is not correct. Highest, as the word coveys, is a qualitative reference. With regards to US military decorations, this includes the Congressional Medal of Honor. The use of "Most" is a quantitative reference. In this respect, excluding General MacArthur,
Colonel David Hackworth, USA (Ret.) has the numbers. Counting all his medals, valor and non-valor, and all the appropriate devices, he has
89! However, he
lacks the Medal of Honor.
There are those who attempt to control titles and conclusions by altering the criteria. For example, limiting it to the top three valor awards (Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star); the time frame (i.e., WWII, Korea, Vietnam); branch of service; or deciding whether foreign awards should be included in the criteria, and then, what values they equate to in the American awards. Part of the difficulty in limiting it to a specific war is the fact than many recipients served in two or more wars.
Murphy detested the title
"Most Decorated Soldier" and felt it belonged to no one.
Murphy did not ask for that title, the U.S. Army at the time and
Life Magazine bestowed it upon him and it has stuck for 65 years.
As to
Chilson specifically,
lacking the
Medal of Honor and the
French Legion of Honor definantly puts him out of the category of
"Most Decorated", although he was one hell of a soldier.
That being said, when one compares
Audie Murphy to
Matt Urban or
any other soldier of WWII, Audie Murphy continues to reign as the
"Most-Decorated Soldier of World War II".
Thanks,
Dave