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Audie Murphy Display

<< Back to Holtzwihr

Details:

Situated immediately east of the other two memorials on site in a clearing along the dirt trail. Marker The color display is framed in an elevated wood case and features the story of Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy. The display is presented in English and includes a portrait of Murphy as well as images of the Medal of Honor, unit insignia, and a medal commemorating the battle which took place at the location.

Monument Text:

On this spot, on 26 January 1945 at about 2pm, the Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy from the B Company, 15th Regiment, 3rd U.S. Infantry Division, held off a counterattack of the German army.

The Germans attack with 6 Jagdpanther tanks and over 100 soldiers was launched from the village of Holtzwihr. The 2 destroyer tanks accompanying Murphy's troops were quickly put out of action. Murphy, who had sent his men off to take cover, stayed in order to guide the U.S. artillery over the phone. When the German soldiers were only a few meters away, he climbed on the TD which was in flames and fired on the enemy with the machine gun thus forcing them to turn back. The Jagdpanthers who were no longer supported by the infantry also turned back, so the German counterattack failed. For this heroic action, Audie L. Murphy was decorated with the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military distinction.

A few hundred meters away from here, on the path called "Sentier de la Martre" you can find another memorial dedicated to the crew of a Lancaster Bomber, the PB765 of the 207 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was shot down and crashed there on 4th December 1944. Three of the seven crew members lost their lives.

Commemorates:

People:

Audie Leon Murphy

Units:

15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division

United States Army

Wars:

WWII