Distinguished alumnus, Hall of Famer Jerry Murphy dead at 77 Published: Monday, April 9, 2007 by Office Alumni Relations and Annual Fund Author: Chris Aaland, Director of Alumni Relations --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Fort alumnus Raymond "Jerry" Murphy, best known for receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroics in the Korean War, died on Friday, April 6 in the Veterans Administration Nursing Home in Pueblo of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 77. Murphy lettered in football and basketball at Fort Lewis A&M Junior College before finishing his education at Adams State College in 1951. As an end on the 1948 Aggie football team, Murphy caught 15 passes for 127 yards while helping Fort Lewis A&M to a 5-3 record. He was inducted into the FLC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the FLC Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award in the at-large category in 2001. Upon completing his education, Murphy enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. A second lieutenant, he led a rescue mission up and down a fortified North Korean and Chinese-held hillside in February 1953. Carrying several Marines to safety himself, he suffered shrapnel wounds on his left side and a bullet wound on his right hand. He fought off his attackers with a Browning automatic rifle that he found and with his pistol. Murphy was the last American to leave the hill. Seventeen Americans died and another 77 were injured in the battle. No U.S. soldiers were left behind.	President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Jerry Murphy (left) with the Congressional Medal of Honor on Oct. 27, 1953 for his courage on a Korean battlefied earlier that year. Murphy, an Old Fort alumnus who was inducted into the FLC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the FLC Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award in the at-large category in 2001, died on April 6, 2007. He was one of only three living Congressional Medal of Honor recipients in Colorado and just 110 in the country.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Murphy with the Medal of Honor at the White House on Oct. 27, 1953. He is one of four Pueblo natives to receive the award. The Medal of Honor is the highest military award that can be bestowed upon a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. Murphy was one of only three living recipients in Colorado and one of only 110 across the country. “Fort Lewis College and its alumni are saddened by this loss,” said Director of Alumni Relations Chris Aaland, who first met Murphy at FLC’s 1994 Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony. “He was truly an American hero. “As we celebrate all of our Old Fort alumni in the 50th anniversary of Fort Lewis College’s move from the old campus south of Hesperus to our present location in Durango, it’s fitting that we stop to remember one of our greatest alumni and the sacrifices he made for his country,” Aaland added. Following his discharge from the Marines, Murphy worked much of his professional career as a counselor for the Veteran’s Administration, from which he retired in 1997. He and his wife, Mary Ann, lived in Albuquerque, N.M., until he was hospitalized in Pueblo with an advanced form of Alzheimer’s disease. Memorial services for Murphy began today in Pueblo and continue on Thursday and Friday in Albuquerque. Visitation will be Monday from noon to 5 p.m. at Montgomery and Steward Funeral Home at 1317 N. Main St. in Pueblo with a memorial service following at 7 p.m. A prayer service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at French Mortuary Westside Chapel, 9300 Golf Course Road NW in Albuquerque. Friends may visit from 5-7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, 12500 Carmel Ave. NE in Albuquerque. Interment will be at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Author Chris Aaland is the Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Fund at Fort Lewis College.
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