Patrick
James "Pat" Murphy was born on March 8,
1947 to James Thomas & Elizabeth A. “Pidge” (Pidgeon) Murphy.
Pat, oldest of eight children, his
siblings Dennis,Michael,Kevin
J.,James "Jimmy",Thomas "Tommy",Brian and Maryann.
Pat's hometown was Levittown, Nassau County,
New York and had gone to school at St. Martin of Tours Elementary
School and the St. Pius X junior seminary in
Uniondale.
His freshmen year at St. John's University, a private Roman
Catholic
university in New York City where he befriended Stephen Shea (who
would later be Sgt. Stephen Shea USMC)
and
six months later Pat followed Stephen Shea, leaving school and
enlisting in the
US Marines Corps.
Not that he needed any help in picking
military
service as his
family had very strong military background.
Father: PFC James Thomas
Murphy USMC World War II
Mother:
Sgt Elizabeth
A. “Pidge” (Pidgeon) Murphy
USMC World War II
Son:
Cpl Patrick
James "Pat" Murphy
USMC Vietnam (KIA 15-May-1968)
Son:
Sp4 Dennis Murphy
US Army Vietnam
Son:
LCpl James C. "Jim" Murphy
USMC Sideside
1970-1972
Son:
PFC Michael
Murphy
USMC Vietnam
Son:
PFC Kevin J.
Murphy US
Army
Cpl Patrick Murphy was killed on May 15, 1968 in Vietnam and was
brought
home for burial in the Long
Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale,
Suffolk County, New
York
where his parents and brother
USMC PFC Kevin J. Murphy now also rest.
Pat was the "Honor Graduate" of his
Parris Island Boot Camp platoon, from which only one is selected
from the
whole Platoon. Which earned him a set of
Marine Corps "Blues" dress uniform and the promotion from Private
to Private First Class (PFC) and the recognition
of being an outstanding Marine.
According to one of his best friends, Sgt.
Stephen Shea, "Pat originally had orders to radio man's school but
somehow
wound up in an Army jump school, one of few Marines
to attend, so it was another honor for Pat. He arrived in Vietnam
in 1967 and had contracted malaria by
December. That got him in a front section seat at the 1967 Bob Hope
show."
Pat,
then a Lance Corporal, appears on the February 1968 1st Force
Reconnaissance Company Roster in Phu Bai, RVN.
Commanding Officer Major.
Edwin H Walker
STAFF OFFICERS
Executive Officer Capt. W.E.
Nelson Supply Officer 1stLt.
W.C. Craven
S-2
Capt. F.J. Vogel
Comm. Officer 1stLt. C.N. Riley
S-3
Capt. J.W. Perrine
Motor Trans.Officer 1stLt. W.C. Craven
S-4
1stLt. W.C. Craven
Name
Rank Serial# Co MOS
Ints Rotate MOS Description
============================ ====
======= = ==== ===
====== ===========
Murphy, Patrick
J.
E3 2293492 1 0311
MPJ 6807 Rifleman
With
the Rotate date of 6807, this would mean he got to Vietnam in June of
1967 (13 month tour) and
he was to rotate back to the states in July of 1968, his
death was just two month short of going home.
Sgt. D.B. "Tom" Thompson stated " my first
connect with then Corporal Murphy, was when he requested to
go out on a long range and was assigned to 1st
Force Recon Co., 5th Platoon, Team "Stone Pit" at which I
was a Corporal." The mission was to
establish a radio relay site and observation post on Hill 897, observe
possible rocket launching sites, mortar
positions, storage area, fortifications and routes of access and
egress.
Include use of H & I . . battery
fire . . in support of Operation Houston.
Team
"Stone Pit" inserted on May 15, 1968 at 11:20 AM in the LZ with no
enemy sighted and proceeded until
setting up a night harbor site, plotted
requested H & I points around the site and called it the fire
mission to
be start a given time with one round per hour at
one of the plotted points with the DANGER CLOSE tag
(which would let them know we were close to
the impact area. Night radio watch was set (one marine on watch
for an hour and pass radio to next).
During the night the fire mission
started but they fired all the rounds at once and three landing within
our
site, killing Cpl. Murphy just to my
left and wounding HM3 Hilgendorf and LCpl Treurniet. The next day
May 16, 1968 we were extracted at 8:25
AM.
"The sadist day of my Vietnam tour and
still fresh in my memory" stated Thompson.
Force Recon 5th Platoon Team "Stone
Pit" 15-May-68 16-May-68
Patrol Members-9
Cpl David B. "Tom" THOMPSON Patrol
Leader
SSgt Thomas H. GRIGGS
Cpl Steven M. CICALESE
Cpl Ronald J. SCHLODER
Cpl Patrick James MURPHY *NBC KIA
HM3 David G. HILGENDORF *NBC WIA
LCpl W. DUNLAP
LCpl Thomas E. TREURNIET *NBC WIA
PFC John D. WARDLOW
Operation
Order 193-68 < < < Full After Action Link
To Our Brother, Cpl. Patrick James "Pat" Murphy USMC, Semper Fi and
Rest
in Peace!
"I'll never forget you, Pat" D.B. Thompson
A special Thank You for data
& photos supplied
by the family members and Stephen Shea.
Go BACK to
HONOR &
MEMORY
Go BACK
to MAIN PAGE
Email: dthompso@mwt.net
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