Date: 2004-06-26
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Audie Murphy Monument
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

A sunny day today hoorah, hoorah!! The first nice day in a while. I'm sure I'll be complaining about the heat and humidity soon but it was so nice today to not have it rain. The thing about the rain while hiking is not that everything gets all soaking wet from the rain (although boots & socks do get soaking wet), it's that everything gets damp from the air and never dries!! Everything just stays damp and boots stay wet. You kind of get used to it but it doesn't mean you like it.As usual we planned on going further but with a bit of a late start we ended up camping out just off the trail, otherwise we would have been hiking in the dark. Luckily I bought an 8'x10' tarp when I was home because Ray-way left his tent at the hotel in Pearisburg. (The hotel is shipping it to the next post office.) After several attempts of almost getting the tarp up and having it fall down we successfully got a shelter for the evening.Where we stopped on the trail is near the Audie Murphy monument. Audie Murphy is the most decorated American war hero of WWII. He died in a plane crash in 1971 and in 1974 the VFW constructed this memorial near the site. The guidebook I have has this written (I though some of you would be interested in this):"His citation for the Congressional Medal of Honor reads:'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 machine gun 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.'After the war, he bacame an actor, starring in many movies--most of them B-grade westerns."**********This entry posted on 7/19/2004**********