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Murphy was indeed a remarkable individual and a proven hero many times over. In World War II for instance an Army general and historian SLA Marshall did a study of combat infantrymen in that war. He asserted that only about 25% of American infantrymen ever even fired their personal weapons in combat. So Murphy and the chosen few who did actually engage the enemy were a select few if you believe Marshall’s conclusions.
I heard once he was sitting at a booth in a tavern and some drunken rowdy was trying to pick fights with everyone and Murphy shouted for him to " sit down and shut up."
The guy started to walk towards him until he got a look at the killer eyeballs and decided to sit down and shut up.
Have you seen his TV series Whispering Smith ? It's a pretty good old western show. I waited years for it to be released, now you can watch them all on YouTube. If you read about that show on Wikipedia you can see that it was cursed with bad luck.
Murphy was indeed a remarkable individual and a proven hero many times over. In World War II for instance an Army general and historian SLA Marshall did a study of combat infantrymen in that war. He asserted that only about 25% of American infantrymen ever even fired their personal weapons in combat. So Murphy and the chosen few who did actually engage the enemy were a select few if you believe Marshall’s conclusions.
I tend to not believe marshall……….Somebody fired their weapons or there would not have been millions of dead German and Japanese soldiers...………………...
I tend to not believe marshall……….Somebody fired their weapons or there would not have been millions of dead German and Japanese soldiers...………………...
As I remember the thesis General Marshall wrote that individual riflemen tended not to fire as they waited for something to come into their sights. So squad movement depended upon the BAR man and maybe the leaders submachine gun to lay down a base of fire and riflemen did not add suppression fire from their M-1 with only an 8 round clip, as they waited for a clear target to shoot at..
After WWII basic training was said to change from an emphasis on a soldier doing his duty to an emphasis on killing the enemy. Meanwhile the rifle range changed from the target firing at known distances to the train fire method of shooting at man shaped silhouettes that pop up at random places.
As I remember the thesis General Marshall wrote that individual riflemen tended not to fire as they waited for something to come into their sights. So squad movement depended upon the BAR man and maybe the leaders submachine gun to lay down a base of fire and riflemen did not add suppression fire from their M-1 with only an 8 round clip, as they waited for a clear target to shoot at..
After WWII basic training was said to change from an emphasis on a soldier doing his duty to an emphasis on killing the enemy. Meanwhile the rifle range changed from the target firing at known distances to the train fire method of shooting at man shaped silhouettes that pop up at random places.
as to the targets we fired at..... in 1970 we did both stationary known distances, and Pop up targets.
I'm not going to say what exactly took place in Ww2 as to individual squad tactics or who fired what. I wasn't there. I would guess that just about every situation was different in some way.
He showed his strength and courage even earlier. If I have my ages right.
At 15/16 his mother died, leaving him with sole care of 2 younger siblings. The county was to separate them all and take them to foster homes.
Audie enlisted in the Army and became 'emancipated' and legally able to care for his brother and sister. He placed them in a place he chose for their care and went off to do his military thing.
This is the sort of thing I think about when I ponder the men and women of that time.
5 feet 5 and 112 pounds. If ever there was a demonstration of "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog"...
Dont forget that most of the germans fighting on that front were teenagers. The average age was 19 yrs which means many of those guys were 15 and 16 years old that had little training because there hadn't been time. The invaders were on all fronts at once so the germans were fighting for their lives in a desperate manner.
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