Hondo
One Too Many
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News threads seem so far down at the bottom here, this is a Korean War Vet, so were closer to WWII threads. How I wish my life was as interesting, or heroic as Mr. Murphys, guess some of us are just born too late, an Interesting life of Mr. Murphy "Once a Marine, always a Marine" God bless you Capt. Murphy R.I.P. 
Medal of Honor Recipient Raymond G. 'Jerry' Murphy
By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 9, 2007; Page B05
Raymond G. "Jerry" Murphy, 77, a Medal of Honor recipient whose defiance of direct orders during the Korean War led him to launch an assault and a rescue credited with saving many wounded Marines even while he was wounded himself, died of dementia April 6 at a veterans nursing home in Pueblo, Colo.
The Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor, has been bestowed on 3,460 people in U.S. history. Mr. Murphy's death leaves 110 recipients alive, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
On a cold Feb. 3, 1953, the 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Murphy was in command of a Marine platoon held in reserve for evacuation duties in Operation Clambake, an assault on entrenched enemy troops in the hills near Ungok, South Korea. The troops had been under mortar and artillery fire for almost two months, waiting for a chance to retaliate.
Two other platoons from his company, with air support and Army tanks, attacked at dawn. After an hour, the young officer became uneasy when no fatalities or prisoners returned with the wounded troops. Defying direct orders, Lt. Murphy led a small group of men up the hill to assess the situation and found that the assault had stalled and that most of the senior officers and noncommissioned officers had been killed. Instantly, Lt. Murphy took charge, "attacking a cleverly concealed and well-entrenched hostile force occupying commanding ground," his official medal citation said.
Shouting encouragement to his platoon, he led it through an intense and withering barrage of mortar and small-arms fire. He and his troops freed comrades who had been trapped in the earlier fighting, and Lt. Murphy made several trips through the heavy fire to carry the wounded to safety.
A mortar round that exploded nearby sent fragments into his left side, but he ignored his wounds to keep up the attack.
When reinforcements were needed by assault troops, the platoon leader sent part of his unit and, in the ensuing battle, killed two enemy soldiers with his pistol.
"A sergeant who saw Murphy's heroics said, 'It would be impossible to know how many trips he made under enemy fire to pull guys to safety,' "Amvets magazine reported in its winter 2003 issue. "In touch with his battalion commander via radio, Murphy was told to end the attack. He passed the word and covered his men as they pulled back. At the base of Ungok . . . before withdrawing himself, he organized a party to sweep the battlefield to ensure that no Marines were left behind."
Although suffering intense pain from his wounds, the second lieutenant seized an automatic rifle to provide more firepower when the enemy reappeared in the trenches, the medal citation said.
"On the way back, as Murphy was about to help lift the stretcher of a badly wounded Marine, a piece of shrapnel tore into his right hand but he steadfastly held onto the stretcher," the Amvets article says. He continued to refuse medical treatment until he was assured that all other injuries had been treated.
Eighteen Marines were killed and 70 others were wounded in the attack on Ungok, and Lt. Murphy was credited with preventing many more deaths.
After treatment aboard hospital ships and at a California naval hospital, he was promoted to first lieutenant. Two months after the battle, he was released from active duty but remained in the Reserve. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a White House ceremony Oct. 27, 1953. Promoted to captain at the end of 1954, he left the Reserve at the end of 1959. He had enlisted in 1951.
His other military awards included the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
After his discharge, Mr. Murphy operated a bowling alley for a time, then spent the rest of his working life at the New Mexico Veterans Administration. He retired as director of the agency in 1997 and continued to volunteer at a veterans hospital until he returned to his home town of Pueblo two years ago and moved into a nursing home.
He is one of four Medal of Honor recipients depicted in sculptures at the Pueblo Medal of Honor Foundation memorial. In January, New Mexico's two senators introduced legislation to name the state Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque in his honor.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann Murphy of Pueblo; and four children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801100.html
Medal of Honor Recipient Raymond G. 'Jerry' Murphy
By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 9, 2007; Page B05
Raymond G. "Jerry" Murphy, 77, a Medal of Honor recipient whose defiance of direct orders during the Korean War led him to launch an assault and a rescue credited with saving many wounded Marines even while he was wounded himself, died of dementia April 6 at a veterans nursing home in Pueblo, Colo.
The Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor, has been bestowed on 3,460 people in U.S. history. Mr. Murphy's death leaves 110 recipients alive, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
On a cold Feb. 3, 1953, the 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Murphy was in command of a Marine platoon held in reserve for evacuation duties in Operation Clambake, an assault on entrenched enemy troops in the hills near Ungok, South Korea. The troops had been under mortar and artillery fire for almost two months, waiting for a chance to retaliate.
Two other platoons from his company, with air support and Army tanks, attacked at dawn. After an hour, the young officer became uneasy when no fatalities or prisoners returned with the wounded troops. Defying direct orders, Lt. Murphy led a small group of men up the hill to assess the situation and found that the assault had stalled and that most of the senior officers and noncommissioned officers had been killed. Instantly, Lt. Murphy took charge, "attacking a cleverly concealed and well-entrenched hostile force occupying commanding ground," his official medal citation said.
Shouting encouragement to his platoon, he led it through an intense and withering barrage of mortar and small-arms fire. He and his troops freed comrades who had been trapped in the earlier fighting, and Lt. Murphy made several trips through the heavy fire to carry the wounded to safety.
A mortar round that exploded nearby sent fragments into his left side, but he ignored his wounds to keep up the attack.
When reinforcements were needed by assault troops, the platoon leader sent part of his unit and, in the ensuing battle, killed two enemy soldiers with his pistol.
"A sergeant who saw Murphy's heroics said, 'It would be impossible to know how many trips he made under enemy fire to pull guys to safety,' "Amvets magazine reported in its winter 2003 issue. "In touch with his battalion commander via radio, Murphy was told to end the attack. He passed the word and covered his men as they pulled back. At the base of Ungok . . . before withdrawing himself, he organized a party to sweep the battlefield to ensure that no Marines were left behind."
Although suffering intense pain from his wounds, the second lieutenant seized an automatic rifle to provide more firepower when the enemy reappeared in the trenches, the medal citation said.
"On the way back, as Murphy was about to help lift the stretcher of a badly wounded Marine, a piece of shrapnel tore into his right hand but he steadfastly held onto the stretcher," the Amvets article says. He continued to refuse medical treatment until he was assured that all other injuries had been treated.
Eighteen Marines were killed and 70 others were wounded in the attack on Ungok, and Lt. Murphy was credited with preventing many more deaths.
After treatment aboard hospital ships and at a California naval hospital, he was promoted to first lieutenant. Two months after the battle, he was released from active duty but remained in the Reserve. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a White House ceremony Oct. 27, 1953. Promoted to captain at the end of 1954, he left the Reserve at the end of 1959. He had enlisted in 1951.
His other military awards included the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
After his discharge, Mr. Murphy operated a bowling alley for a time, then spent the rest of his working life at the New Mexico Veterans Administration. He retired as director of the agency in 1997 and continued to volunteer at a veterans hospital until he returned to his home town of Pueblo two years ago and moved into a nursing home.
He is one of four Medal of Honor recipients depicted in sculptures at the Pueblo Medal of Honor Foundation memorial. In January, New Mexico's two senators introduced legislation to name the state Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque in his honor.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann Murphy of Pueblo; and four children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801100.html
