On This Day in 1945- US Army Lt. Audie Murphy Directs Artillery Fire, Singlehandedly Fends off German Counterattack

On this day 67 years ago today, newly-promoted Lt Audie Leon Murphy and members of his company came under fire from armour and infantry units of nazi Germany's Wermacht near the Franco-German border at Holtzwihr, France. Already awarded a purple heart for his service in Salerno and Anzio and two silver stars from earlier in the campaign in France, Murphy would be the one of the most decorated soldiers in WWII.

Murphy's Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:

2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 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. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. 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. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 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.

Keep in mind this happened just days after Murphy received his field promotion to 2nd. Lieutenant.

After the war, Murphy penned a biographical account of his wartime service in 1949 called 'To Hell And Back'. The Texas native also went on to have a fairly successful career as a Hollywood actor- portraying himself in the 1955 silver screen version of To Hell And Back- and country music composer before his 1971 death in a plane crash in Virgina.