Some gave all and all gave some was a major theme in one of the greatest wars in history. One of the best examples of this statement is Mr. John Murphy. He was a field
medic during World War II. You may think that a field medic doesn’t put much on the line, but that is wrong. A field medic such as John Murphy put his life on the line to help
others survive. Mr. Murphy was in several major battles and volunteered to help out with a suicide mission. If this is not a perfect example of putting everything on the line for the
people back in his country then I don’t know what is.
John Murphy lived in Corning, New York when the war started. He was a student in Senior High School before the war started. On September 1, 1939, Mr. Murphy was
playing touch football when he heard of the invasion of Poland. He was also playing football when he heard news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Murphy was surprised that
this had happened. To him, the war was the worst thing and was very stupid. Mr. Murphy was madder at the Japanese than at the Germans because his mom had a German
background. Mr. Murphy was 18 years old when he signed up for the Army. He wanted to be a G.I., but the government said he would be better at being a combat medic. So
he went to a hospital to train and learn more about medicine. After that was done, he was sent to the Pacific to be a medic there.
When Mr. Murphy went to the pacific, he left his mother, father, two sisters, and a brother. When he was fighting on the field, he got shot by a sniper in the leg. He also got
hit by shrapnel from a grenade. One of his experiences during the war was that he went on a suicide mission and everybody in the group died except for him. He lay on the
ground all day until night, then he went back the troops to tell them that he was the only survivor. Other experiences included the Philippines, Clark Field, Solomon Islands, and his
worst, Manila. When he went off to war, he wanted to kill as many Japanese soldiers that he could. After his experience at Manila, he never fired his rifle for the remainder of the
war.
On August 14, 1945, the war ended in the Pacific. “That was the happiest day of my life,” said Mr. Murphy. “I was so happy we didn’t have to fight any more.” That day
Mr. Murphy was in the Northern part of Luzon in the Philippines training British soldiers to invade Japan. The invasion was set for November 1, 1945. “I was so glad we didn’t
have to take over Japan. We would have lost many more lives if we did.”
When Mr. Murphy got back to America, he moved back in with his family in Corning. Unfortunately, he got Malaria only one week after coming back. When he was well e
nough, he went back to college in Trenton, New Jersey under the G. I. Bill and got a degree in Accounting.
If Mr. John Murphy wasn’t a perfect example of putting everything on the line for his country, then I don’t know what is. Mr. Murphy learned that war was “stupid and
pointless”. He also learned that war doesn’t solve anything. By going to war, the things that he saw were not the best things to remember. “The thing that people should not
forget about WWII is that the success of the Allied victory was not only the cause of the soldiers on the battle front, but also the hundreds of thousands of people on the home
front that also helped to support the war.”