Audie Murphy Crash Site Memorial

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Audie Murphy Crash Site Memorial

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:10:03 AM EDT

Thought you might find this interesting....

Rode motorcycles into the mountains yesterday with a couple of friends.

Destination: Audie Murphy crash site memorial

Rode 120 miles up to and through Blacksburg, VA.

Rode 3.5 miles on a dirt/logging road. Our Harleys had NO business on this road.

Parked at top then had to hike 0.7 miles up a trail. Wish there was a guest book there because I am really curious how many people make this trek.

The fall colors are really coming out now. Thought you'd enjoy these pics.

Sadly, I had stopped at the Blacksburg, VA Visitors Center and asked for more specific directions, and the two girls had never heard of Audie Murphy and knew nothing of the crash site.

GOD BLESS ALL OF OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN.

Lablover

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:15:22 AM EDT

[#1]

Wonder what his sons ended up doing?

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:18:33 AM EDT

[#2]

Very cool, thanks for posting.

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:23:09 AM EDT

[#3]

thanks.

Posted: 10/20/2006 8:02:46 AM EDT

[#4]

Thanks for the information and pictures!!!!

Posted: 10/20/2006 8:30:39 AM EDT

[#5]

From wikipedia:

While on a business trip on May 28, 1971, (Memorial Day Weekend), flying in bad weather with a pilot unqualified to fly on instruments, Murphy's private plane crashed into Brush Mountain, near Catawba, Virginia, some 20 miles west of Roanoke. The pilot and all five passengers, including Murphy, were killed. Audie Murphy was 46 years old. In 1974, a large granite memorial marker was erected near the crash site.

On June 7, 1971, Audie Murphy was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. A small walkway leads to his final place of rest in Section 46, located near the Amphitheater. It is the second most-visited gravesite, second only to President John F. Kennedy's grave.

The tombstones of Arlington's Medal of Honor recipients are normally decorated in gold leaf, but Murphy had requested that his stone remain plain and inconspicous, as would be the case with an ordinary soldier. An unknown person maintains a small American flag next to his engraved Government-issue headstone, which reads as follows:

Audie L. Murphy, Texas. Major, Infantry, World War II. June 20, 1924 to May 28, 1971. Medal of Honor, DSC, SS & OLC, LM, BSM & OLC, PH & two OLC.
(Key to abbreviations: DSC = Distinguished Service Cross; SS = Silver Star; LM = Legion of Merit; BSM = Bronze Star Medal; PH = Purple Heart; OLC = Oak Leaf Cluster.)

An Oak Leaf Cluster signifies a subsequent award of the same decoration. Interestingly, First Lieutenant Audie Murphy was one of very few company-grade officers ever to be awarded the Legion of Merit. That decoration is usually awarded only to officers in the rank of lieutenant colonel and above.

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:20:10 PM EDT

[#6]

Thanks

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:24:09 PM EDT

[#7]

Nice.

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:29:18 PM EDT

[#8]

What bumpkin rednecks shot up the sign? DAmn thats a disgrace

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:29:20 PM EDT

[#9]

All that, and he could act, too! God bless his soul!

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:32:35 PM EDT

[#10]

Thanks for sharing the pics!

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:37:33 PM EDT

[#11]

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:50:50 PM EDT

[#12]

Judging from the size of the stone piles, many people have actually been there.

Good pics.

Posted: 10/20/2006 7:55:00 PM EDT

[#13]

Thanks for the pics LABLOVER

Posted: 10/21/2006 9:01:19 AM EDT

[#14]

That is cool, thanks.

Posted: 10/21/2006 10:02:33 AM EDT

[#15]

I work at a university and after reading this, I decided to ask a few students if they knew who Audie Murphy was - asked 10 - none ever heard of him ......

Posted: 10/21/2006 10:06:11 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
I work at a university and after reading this, I decided to ask a few students if they knew who Audie Murphy was - asked 10 - none ever heard of him ......

Shit, I'm Canadian and I know who he is.

Posted: 10/21/2006 10:40:50 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I work at a university and after reading this, I decided to ask a few students if they knew who Audie Murphy was - asked 10 - none ever heard of him ......

Shit, I'm Canadian and I know who he is.

Ditto... Kids these days :(

Posted: 10/21/2006 10:49:18 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
I work at a university and after reading this, I decided to ask a few students if they knew who Audie Murphy was - asked 10 - none ever heard of him ......

tell them that without men like him you would be asking the question in german

Posted: 10/21/2006 10:49:29 AM EDT

[#19]

Looks like a cool ride...

I'm thinking about shipping my bike back to Pennsylvania to have it there to ride as I don't get much riding in up here in Alaska.

~Dg84

Posted: 10/21/2006 12:25:32 PM EDT

[#20]

Wow, very cool.

Strange to see a huge granite monument in the middle of nowhere.

Something I'll have to see one day.

Posted: 10/21/2006 2:39:54 PM EDT

[#21]

Cool trip Lablover! Thanks for sharing the pics.

Quoted:
What bumpkin rednecks shot up the sign? DAmn thats a disgrace

Probably that Alvin York.

Posted: 10/21/2006 2:43:09 PM EDT

[#22]

Thanks for posting this. He was a true American. I still remember my grandmother crying when his death was reported on the evening news. A lot of people who grew up in the '50s or '60s kind of felt like they knew the man personally; I know I did.

Just guessing but I would say the main reason why most young Americans don't know anything about him and his monumental achievements in WWII is because our liberal-infested education system does not find him important enough to mention.

Posted: 10/21/2006 3:10:35 PM EDT

[#23]

That's interesting - thanks for the report.

Posted: 10/23/2006 8:38:09 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I work at a university and after reading this, I decided to ask a few students if they knew who Audie Murphy was - asked 10 - none ever heard of him ......

Shit, I'm Canadian and I know who he is.

Ditto... Kids these days :(

My son is 13, 8th grader. I asked him if he knew when WWII was and he said "No". What the hell are they teaching these days? When I was 13 I sure as hell knew when WWII was. Of course the war had only ended 30 years earlier, not 60 years like today.

I did take the opportunity to explain to him who Audie Murphy was and talked about other war heroes,

Lablover

Posted: 10/23/2006 8:56:06 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Judging from the size of the stone piles, many people have actually been there.

Good pics.

The Appalachian Trail passes right by the monument and many, many, many hikers choose to stop and view the monument. Unless someone comes along periodically to clear them away, one of those rocks is mine, placed there in 1995. The AT was specifically relocated to pass by this spot.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Audie Murphy Crash Site Memorial

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