Audie Murphy's life, all veterans, to be celebrated in Greenville this summer

Jun. 20--Today is the birthday of the late Audie Murphy, Hunt County native and the most decorated American soldier of World War II.

Murphy's life will be remembered this summer, during the 25th annual Audie Murphy Day celebration.

The event will take actually take place over two days and at two locations, August 7-8 at the Texan Theater, 2712 Lee Street in downtown Greenville, and the Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum, 600 I-30 East in Greenville, and will again pay tribute not only to Murphy but veterans everywhere.

Free showings of "To Hell and Back." Murphy's autobiographical film, will be held at the Texan Theater at 2 and 7 p.m. on Friday, August 7. RSVPs are required by contacting the Museum at 903-450-4502.

According to the announcement from museum director Susan Lanning, the events on Saturday, August 8 will begin at the Texan Theater. Speakers will include Marjorie Lewis, a professor at the University of North Texas who wrote the book When the Men Were Gone, which takes place during WWII, and actor Michael Dante who was in Apache Rifles and Arizona Raiders with Murphy and is best known for his starring role in Winterhawk. Mark Wellborn, an adjunct history professor at Collin College, will explore how the Allies deployed cleverly deceptive and illusionary practices during the run-up to D-Day to keep German plans for a counter-offensive at bay.

Afternoon and evening activities will take place at the Museum.

All activities at the Texan Theater will be free but a regular admission charge of $6 for adults, $4 for seniors/veterans/college students and $2 students will apply to enter the Museum.

Murphy was born near Kingston and enlisted in the Army in Greenville. During his three years of active service, Murphy received every decoration of valor that the United States had to offer, some of them more than once, including five decorations by France and Belgium. Among his 33 awards and decorations is the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for bravery that can be given to any individual in the United States of America.

On Jan. 26, 1945, near the village of Holtzwihr in eastern France, Murphy's forward positions came under German attack. Facing six Panzer tanks, Murphy ordered his men to fall back to better their defenses as he mounted an abandoned, burning tank destroyer. With a single machine gun, Murphy fought against the advance for almost an hour, despite being wounded in the leg. Murphy later led his troops on a counterattack which succeeded in driving the Germans from Holtzwihr.

Following the war, actor James Cagney saw Murphy's photo on the cover of Life Magazine and invited him to Hollywood. Over the next 25 years, Audie made 44 feature films.

Additional information is available by visiting the museum's Web site at www.cottonmuseum.com

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