Robert Mueller III & Audie Murphy
Robert Mueller III
Robert Mueller III is a lawyer, government official, and a Marine, who also served as the sixth Director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013. In July 1968, Mueller was sent to South Vietnam, where he served as a rifle platoon leader as a second lieutenant.
On December 11, 1968, during an engagement in Operation Scotland II, he earned the Bronze Star with Valor. He rescued a wounded Marine under enemy fire during an ambush in which half of his platoon become casualties.
In April 1969, he received an enemy gunshot wound in the thigh, recovered, and returned to lead his platoon. For his service during the Vietnam War, his military decorations and awards include: The Bronze Star Medal with Combat Valor, Purple Heart Medal, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with Combat Valor, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with Four Service Stars, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and Parachutist Badge.
Reflecting on his service in the Vietnam War, Mueller said, "I consider myself exceptionally lucky to have made it out of Vietnam. There were many who did not. And perhaps because I did survive Vietnam, I have always felt compelled to contribute." In 2009, Mueller told a writer that despite his other accomplishments he was still "most proud the Marine Corps deemed me worthy of leading other Marines." After returning from Vietnam, Mueller was briefly stationed at Henderson Hall before leaving active-duty service in August 1970 at the rank of Captain.
Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy was 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 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. He then successfully led counter-attack while wounded and out of ammunition.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy's older sister helped him to falsify documentation about his birth date in order to meet the minimum age requirement for enlisting in the military. Turned down by the Navy and the Marine Corps, he enlisted in the Army.
He first saw action in the 1943 Allied Invasion of Sicily. Then, in 1944 he participated in the "Liberation of Rome." Murphy fought at Montelimar and led his men on a successful assault at the L'Omet quarry near Cleurie in northeast France in October.
After the war, Murphy embarked on a 21-year acting career. He played himself in the 1955 autobiographical film To Hell and Back, based on his 1949 memoirs of the same name, but most of his roles were in westerns. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Murphy slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. He looked for solace in addictive sleeping pills. 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 died in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971, which was shortly before his 46th birthday.
(Image via Facebook; Wikipedia)
Did you know...
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- Björk created a media sensation when she wore her iconic white swan dress to the 2001 Oscars. At the time, many derided it as hideous and a publicity stunt, but it has since gone down as one of the most memorable dresses of all time—even if it isn't exactly beloved. She says David Bowie was the inspiration behind the dress.
- Jackie Kennedy is famous for redecorating and renovating the interior of the White House. Actually, on just her first day, she ordered $50,000 in changes for new rooms for the children and upgrades to the kitchen. She later hosted a tour of the White House for CBS News which was viewed by 56 million people and won her an Emmy Award.
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