KEEPING LEGEND'S CANDLE BURNING.Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer Twenty-seven years ago today, the most decorated soldier of World War II died in a Virginia plane crash. With some help from modern technology, family and admirers are keeping his memory alive. Audie Murphy was just 46 years old when the small aircraft slammed into a mountain during a rainstorm, but in that abbreviated lifetime he became a war hero, an actor in 44 films, the author of a best-selling autobiography, a rancher, a racehorse racehorse refers usually to thoroughbred but may also include standardbred, trotter. owner and a songwriter. His oldest son, Terry Murphy Terry Murphy may refer to:
with the scrappy Texan during campaigns across the Europe theater. The Santa Clarita-based foundation publishes a quarterly newsletter, featuring anecdotes from Murphy's platoon mates from the U.S. Army's Third Division, publicity photos and movie stills from his years at Universal Pictures and, in one issue, a December 1946 photo and news account about how the 5-foot-7-inch, 130-pound Murphy, driving on a Texas highway, overpowered o·ver·pow·er tr.v. o·ver·pow·ered, o·ver·pow·er·ing, o·ver·pow·ers 1. To overcome or vanquish by superior force; subdue. 2. To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective; overwhelm. 3. a carjacker 7 inches taller and 60 pounds heavier. A goal of the foundation is to produce a CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). that would chronicle Murphy's life and be suitable for use in school and college libraries. Fans have created a computer Web site - http://www.audiemurphy.com - that's a rich repository of data available at the click of a mouse. Murphy devotees also have been badgering the postmaster general POSTMASTER GENERAL. The chief officer of the post office department of the United States. Various duties are imposed upon this officer by the acts of congress of March 3, 1825, and July 2, 1836, which will be found under the articles Mail; Post Office and Postage. and assorted U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. officials to issue a stamp in his honor. If Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Monroe, James, 1758–1831, 5th President of the United States (1817–25), b. Westmoreland co., Va. Early Life Leaving the College of William and Mary in 1776 to fight in the American Revolution, he served in several campaigns and was Dean, movie monsters and Looney Toons characters rate a commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp issued to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. Most postal services of the world issue several of these each year, often holding first day of issue ceremonies at locations connected with the subjects. , they contend. So should a bona fide [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding. A bona fide purchaser is one who purchases property for a valuable consideration that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being battle hero. Terry Murphy, who grew up in Southern California and lives in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , said he hopes students and researchers will come away with an appreciation for the trials and sacrifices people made in that era. ``Maybe, through him, (people can) understand the World War II generation - what they, as a generation, had to do that we never had to do,'' Murphy said. He's not sure where his father got the well-documented grit to single-handedly ward off a German attack, an act of courage that won Audie Murphy the Medal of Honor Medal of Honor highest American military decoration for wartime gallantry. [Am. Hist.: Misc.] See : Bravery and landed his photo on the September 1945 cover of Life magazine. ``Sometimes, they don't realize the movie guy and the military guy are the same person,'' Murphy noted. ``Do the times create those people or did they just happen along?'' the son said Wednesday, wondering aloud where the man turned down by the Marines and the Navy got the spit and vinegar to survive and excel in combat, experiences Audie Murphy detailed in ``To Hell and Back,'' his 1949 autobiography. ``He was there when we needed him,'' the son said. In battles in Italy, Germany and other European fronts, Murphy killed an estimated 240 enemy soldiers both as an infantryman and later as an officer. Besides the Medal of Honor - the highest military award for bravery this country bestows - Murphy also was awarded a Purple Heart, a Distinguished Service Cross and numerous other medals. Larryann Willis, an entertainment industry attorney who runs the foundation out of her Canyon Country home, said she became friends with Terry Murphy a few years back when the Arts & Entertainment cable network was producing a segment about Audie Murphy for its popular ``Biography'' program. ``The family wanted some legal assistance,'' Willis said. It turned out that her husband and Audie Murphy had a common acquaintance, a horse wrangler from the actor's long spate of Western films, she said. Through the wrangler wran·gler n. 1. One who wrangles or quarrels. 2. A cowboy or cowgirl, especially one who tends saddle horses. Noun 1. , she met Terry Murphy. ``I told him that I was very interested in his father,'' Willis said. ``Unfortunately, all the people who knew Audie were passing away, and if we were going to interview them, we had to do it right away,'' she said. In assisting the A&E producers researching the ``Biography'' segment, Willis and Murphy realized that photographs and memorabilia about his famous father was widely scattered - in the hands of collectors, movie studios and family members. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1-2--Color in SAC Edition only) (Photo 2 ran in SAC Edition only) Larryann Willis, above, sits amid memorabilia dedicated to World War II hero Audie Murphy. Twenty-seven years ago today, Audie Murphy, left, died in a Virginia plane crash. Terri Thuente/Daily News (3) (Ran in SAC Edition only) Fans have created a computer Web site - http://www.audiemurphy.com - that's a rich repository of data available at the click of a mouse. |
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