Raised amongst a family of poor Texas sharecroppers, 16 year old AUDIE MURPHY had initially attempted to enlist in the U. S. Army, U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps immediately after Pearl Harbor in 1941; but had been turned down by all, due to being too young, as well as being underweight.  With the connivance of his older sister (who had lied about his age in a permission letter), however, he had been allowed to enlist in June 1942; and, fighting with his unit across Italy and France, had acquired every combat award for valor before his 20th birthday in 1945, rising among the ranks to become a U. S. Army 1st Lieutenant.  Murphy was awarded America's highest military decoration -- the MEDAL OF HONOR -- for combat action in January 1945 in France.  After World War II, he had become a major spokesman for the American military, as well as a Hollywood actor, in such films as "THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE" ; "THE UNFORGIVEN" (1960 version, with BURT LANCASTER) ; "THE UGLY AMERICAN", and many others, including starring as himself in the 1955 movie version of "TO HELL AND BACK."  He died as a passenger in a private plane in 1971, at the age of 45; and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where his grave is visited more often than all others, except for that of President John F. Kennedy.