Audie Murphy Memorial

After eating and packing up, we left the Niday Shelter area at 9 a.m. We passed a small Trail Magic setup, with apples and beer. I don't drink, but I did take a beer in case I passed someone willing to trade for cigarettes. I'm out. 😧

We hiked about 5 miles to the Audie Murphy Memorial, where Murphy died in a plane crash in 1971 shortly before his 46th birthday. In 1974, the Veterans of Foreign Wars placed a stone monument near the site of the crash, and the Trail was rerouted to pass by it. Since June is PTSD Awareness Month, it was appropriate (if not necessary) that I visit for a bit and pay my respects.

Some may remember Murphy as an actor in old Westerns, but he was also one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.

After the war, suffering from what would today be described as PTSD, Murphy slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. Like many soldiers, he looked to addictive sleeping pills for solace. In his last few years, he was plagued by money problems, but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials because he did not want to set a bad example.

Murphy was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His grave is one of the most visited sites in the cemetery.

After sitting and reflecting for a while, it was time for Forest and me to move on at about 1 p.m. I was hoping to get to our next resupply stop because I was almost out of my food, but I had to face the fact that we wouldn't get there until Monday morning. At about 4:45 we stopped at the VA 620/Miller Cove Road trailhead along Trout Creek (mile marker 693.9) to collect water and set up camp.