To Hell and Back
by Audie Murphy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Audie MurphyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-05-01
ISBN: 0805070869
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Book Reviews of To Hell and Back
Book Review: Like no other soldier's book I've read.
Summary: 5 Stars
What impressed and surprised me most about Audie L. Murphy's "To Hell And Back" is its total lack of strutting and bragging. It is, through all 274 pages, like no other soldier's memoir that I have ever read. Murphy was no strategic genius- the highest rank he ever attained was Major in the Texas National Guard, and he's best known for reaching 1st LT in the active Army- but that's not terribly important here. What Audie L. Murphy is known for, what makes him one of the greatest soldiers in human history, is the fact that he recieved two Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Cross, the Medal of Honor, Legion of Merit, and the French and Belgian Croix De Guerre along with over a dozen additional decorations. No other soldier in the history of the United States Army has ever been decorated so highly by not only his country but two others. This, the baby-faced young man who was turned away by the Marine Corps and US Army paratroopers because he simply didn't look man enough. Coming from an extremely poor and broken home, Murphy ran into so much trouble, so much adversity, before he ever got to the battlefield for the first time that many, many lesser men would have at some point along the line said "It's not worth it" and quit. But Murphy kept going, and instead of becoming a cook he became a soldier who earned the kind of bragging rights most of us only dream of. But that's got a lot to do with his book, and my review. He never mentions any of that. Neither Croix De Guerre, none of his Silver Stars, not even his Medal of Honor is even mentioned. What I found so remarkable about the telling of "To Hell and Back" is that it is written by a man who sees himself as just another dog-faced grunt in the infantry. Not one of the most decorated soldiers in history. He tells of childhood and all its woes, of the early breakup of his family due to his father's desertion and his overworked mother's death, and then of his struggle to get to the fighting of World War II. His decision to "stick by my guns" from the very start saw him evade repeated attempts to ship him off somewhere where he'd never hear a weapon fired in anger, and he ultimately saw all the war anyone could've wanted and more. Murphy writes of battles, of soldier's humor and bravado, of the tremendous bravery of ordinary men doing extraordinary deeds. He writes of good friends and comrades, too many of whom died before the war's end. He also writes of the German enemy, speaking of him with no particular hatred in his heart. The Germans wanted to go home alive, so did the Americans. The Germans were scared and hungry, and so were the Americans. Murphy recognized this. And while he does mention the actions that earned him so many decorations, he speaks of himself and his own deeds so rarely, with such humility, that it seemed he was saying, "This is what happened, these were my friends and what happened to them I will tell you also. Oh, and by the way, I was there." That's all Murphy does, so often it seems, is do no more than mention his presence in the events he describes.
I have come to regard Audie L. Murphy as the true, real-life equivalent of John Wayne. He was decorated like no man before or since, because he fought like no man before or since. Murphy is credited with personally capturing, killing, or wounding more than 240 Germans and saw combat and endured hardship to a degree few of us could ever imagine. Unlike Douglas MacArthur and men like him, Murphy never beats his chest or struts his stuff. But he never hesitated in doing what he had to, and decking a man who was giving him trouble, whether he was German or American, is something Murphy could do with incredible ease. On almost every page, he is either in a fight, on the frontlines in between fights, or temporarily in the rear. On one occasion, a major finds him vomiting on the side of the road in Italy and asks what is wrong, and Murphy simply says, "Nothing, sir, I'm just puking my guts out for the h*ll of it." Turns out he had malaria. But the instant he recovered, Murphy was headed back towards the fighting.
Some, like a retired USMC Sergeant Major I knew in military school, seem to regard Murphy with disdain due to his many decorations, as if he has too many and they are somehow undeserved. I don't believe that for a minute, nor do I share the attitude of those people. Many medals have been awarded to men who don't deserve them. But to say a man like Audie Murphy doesn't deserve the decorations he has received is an insult to the Army, to the United States, and to all the Allied leaders who recommended him for the medals he got. If he'd had a character similar to glory-seekers like MacArthur, I could see where these critics are coming from. But he never displayed such an attitude, and despite all the fame he ultimately got Audie Murphy remained as humble as any other soldier in the Army.
Few other men have, from the beginning of their lives, endured so much. And even fewer have to such a degree triumphed over all they were forced to endure, all the adversity they were made to face. But I don't believe Audie Murphy fully triumphed over one trouble, that being the memory of all he'd been through. PTSD was not half as well-known and recognized in World War II and the years after as it is today, and consequently means of helping soldiers overcome it were few. But while memories of his many battles stayed with him for the rest of his life, I do believe that even they could not bring him down. For as he closes his book, a book written by a man of tremendous strength, courage, and humility, Murphy writes words I will always remember. Words that everyone, America and the world, should always remember.
"When I was a child, I was told that men were branded by war. Has the brand been put upon me? Have the years of blood and ruin stripped me of all decency? Of all belief?
Not of all belief. I believe in the force of a grenade, the power of artillery, the accuracy of a Garand. I believe in hitting before you get hit, and that dead men do not look noble. But I also believe in men like Brandon and Novak and Swope and Kerrigan; and all the men who stood up against the enemy, taking their beatings without whimper and their triumphs without boasting. The men who went and would go again to hell and back to preserve what our country thinks right and decent.
My country. America! That is it. We have been so intent on death that we have forgotten life. And now suddenly life faces us. I swear to myself that I will measure up to it. I may be branded by war, but I will not be defeated by it.
Gradually it becomes clear. I will go back. I will find the kind of girl of whom I once dreamed. I will learn to look at life through uncynical eyes, to have faith, to know love. I will learn to work in peace as in war. And finally-finally, like countless others, I will learn to live again."
Summary of To Hell and Back
The classic bestselling war memoir by the most decorated American soldier in World War II, back in print in a trade paperback
Originally published in 1949, To Hell and Back was a smash bestseller for fourteen weeks and later became a major motion picture starring Audie Murphy as himself. More than fifty years later, this classic wartime memoir is just as gripping as it was then.
Desperate to see action but rejected by both the marines and paratroopers because he was too short, Murphy eventually found a home with the infantry. He fought through campaigns in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Although still under twenty-one years old on V-E Day, he was credited with having killed, captured, or wounded 240 Germans. He emerged from the war as America's most decorated soldier, having received twenty-one medals, including our highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor. To Hell and Back is a powerfully real portrayal of American GI's at war.
Originally published in 1949, To Hell and Back was a smash bestseller for fourteen weeks and later became a major motion picture starring Audie Murphy as himself. More than fifty years later, this classic wartime memoir is just as gripping as it was then.
Desperate to see action but rejected by both the marines and paratroopers because he was too short, Murphy eventually found a home with the infantry. He fought through campaigns in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Although still under twenty-one years old on V-E Day, he was credited with having killed, captured, or wounded 240 Germans. He emerged from the war as America's most decorated soldier, having received twenty-one medals, including our highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor. To Hell and Back is a powerfully real portrayal of American GI's at war.
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