Medal of Honor Recipient Colonel Charles P. Murray Jr. passes away

[kriegsmodell]

Colonel Murray also served with distinction in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. RIP Warrior .......

 

Col. Charles P. Murray Jr., a Medal of Honor recipient and New Hanover High School graduate, passed away Friday in Columbia, S.C. He was 90.

 

Murray received the Medal of Honor for valor during World War II. On Dec. 14, 1944, in Kayserberg, France, then-1st Lt. Murray organized his company to keep German troops from taking a hill and the valley below. He killed 20 enemy soldiers, wounded several and captured 10.

 

At one point, a German soldier tossed a grenade that wounded him in eight places. Before seeking medical care, he put his troops into position. Col. Murray graduated from New Hanover High School in 1938.

 

According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Murray received his medal in Salzburg, Austria, presented by Lt. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes, Commanding Gen. U.S. II Corps., on July 5, 1945.

 

In 2001, Murray Middle School at Veterans Park was named for the colonel.

 

“Charles Murray was a wonderful friend. He was a magnificent soldier and public servant,” said Wilbur Jones, a local historian. “His valor earned him the Medal of Honor.”

 

Citation and additional information follows:

 

1st Lt. Charles P. Murray, Jr. was born in Baltimore, MD. and joined the United States Army in Wilmington, DE. as Commander of Company C, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division, and shipped out to the front in France.

 

On December 16, 1944, 1st Lt. Murray was leading a reinforced platoon into enemy territory near Kayersberg, France. Descending into a valley beneath hilltop positions held by our troops, he observed a force of 200 Germans pouring deadly mortar, bazooka, machinegun, and small arms fire into an American battalion occupying the crest of the ridge. The enemy's position in a sunken road, though hidden from the ridge, was open to a flank attack by 1st Lt. Murray's patrol but he hesitated to commit so small a force to battle with the superior and strongly disposed enemy. Crawling out ahead of his troops to a vantage point, he called by radio for artillery fire.

 

His shells bracketed the German force, but when he was about to correct the range his radio went dead. He returned to his patrol, secured grenades and a rifle to launch them and went back to his self-appointed outpost. His first shots disclosed his position; the enemy directed heavy fire against him as he methodically fired his missiles into the narrow defile. Again he returned to his patrol. With an automatic rifle and ammunition, he once more moved to his exposed position. Burst after burst he fired into the enemy, killing 20, wounding many others, and completely disorganizing its ranks, which began to withdraw.

 

He prevented the removal of 3 German mortars by knocking out a truck. By that time a mortar had been brought to his support. 1st Lt. Murray directed fire of this weapon, causing further casualties and confusion in the German ranks. Calling on his patrol to follow, he then moved out toward his original objective, possession of a bridge and construction of a roadblock.

 

He captured 10 Germans in foxholes. An eleventh, while pretending to surrender, threw a grenade, which knocked him to the ground, inflicting 8 wounds. Though suffering and bleeding profusely, he refused to return to the rear until he had chosen the spot for the block and had seen his men correctly deployed. By his single-handed attack on an overwhelming force and by his intrepid and heroic fighting, 1st Lt. Murray stopped a counterattack, established an advance position against formidable odds, and provided an inspiring example for the men of his command.

 

For displaying supreme courage and heroic initiative, 1st Lt. Charles P. Murray, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor.

[Jack's Son]

Another gone......R.I.P. :salute:

[stingerwooten]

Here is an excellent article on Col. Murphy:

 

American Legion's Burn Pit

 

Rest in peace, sir! Thank you for your courage and sacrifice!

[Ricardo]

RIP!

 

 

[1944]

R.I.P Col.Charles.P.Murray :salute:

 

May God Bless his Soul and may he Never Be Forgotton!