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Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Stories of Sacrifice

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World War II - U.S. Army

Frederick Coleman Murphy

Details
  • Rank: Private First Class
  • Conflict/Era: World War II
  • Unit/Command:
    Medical Detachment, 259th Infantry,
    65th Infantry Division
  • Military Service Branch: U.S. Army
  • Medal of Honor Action Date: March 18, 1945
  • Medal of Honor Action Place: Siegfried Line at Saarlautern, Germany
Citation

An aidman, he was wounded in the right shoulder soon after his comrades had jumped off in a dawn attack, 18 March 1945, against the Siegfried Line at Saarlautern, Germany. He refused to withdraw for treatment and continued forward, administering first aid under heavy machine-gun, mortar, and artillery fire. When the company ran into a thickly sown antipersonnel minefield and began to suffer more and more casualties, he continued to disregard his own wound and unhesitatingly braved the danger of exploding mines, moving about through heavy fire and helping the injured until he stepped on a mine which severed one of his feet. In spite of his grievous wounds, he struggled on with his work, refusing to be evacuated and crawling from man to man administering to them while in great pain and bleeding profusely. He was killed by the blast of another mine which he had dragged himself across in an effort to reach still another casualty. With indomitable courage, and unquenchable spirit of self-sacrifice and supreme devotion to duty which made it possible for him to continue performing his tasks while barely able to move, Pfc. Murphy saved many of his fellow soldiers at the cost of his own life.

Medal of Honor Recipient Frederick C. Murphy
Medal of Honor Recipient Frederick C. Murphy
Additional Details
  • Accredited to: Weymouth, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
  • Awarded Posthumously: Yes
  • Presentation Date & Details: February 27, 1946

    City Hall, Quincy, Massachusetts, presented by Lt. Gen. O.W. Griswold to his Widow and Daughter

  • Born: 1918, Boston, Suffolk County, MA, United States
  • Died: March 18, 1945, Germany
  • Buried: A.B.M.C. Lorraine Cemetery (MH), St Avold, France
 

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