United States. A Signed Photograph of Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, USA

In black and white, gloss finish, signed in black ink across his dress shirt near the bottom edge on the obverse, measuring 127 mm (w) x 177 mm (h), extremely fine. Accompanied by a 127 mm (w) x 76 mm (h) card signed by him in black ink "Charles P. Murray / United States Army / Medal of Honor / December 16, 1944 / Kaysersberg, France".

Footnote: Charles Patrick "Chuck" Murray, Jr. on September 26, 1921 in Baltimore, Maryland and made his home in Wilmington, North Carolina. After graduating from Wilmington's New Hanover High School in 1938, he attended the University of North Carolina and was drafted into the United States Army in 1942, after his third year of college. Arriving in northeastern France in October 1944, Murray was assigned as a replacement Platoon Leader to Company C of the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. The division had landed in Saint-Tropez on the southern coast of France months earlier and was pushing northward towards Germany. On December 8th of that year, Murray became Company Commander. Early on December 16, Company C crossed the Weiss River in the northern Vosges Mountains and established a defensive position atop Hill 512, just south of the village of Kaysersberg. Later that morning, Murray, by then a First Lieutenant, led a platoon-sized group on a reconnaissance mission to the southeast, towards Ammerschwihr. Descending the vineyard-covered hill along a winding footpath, the group noticed German soldiers in a sunken road, about 150 yards (140 m) away, firing on an American hilltop position. Creeping forward to a point from which he could see the German unit, about 200 men strong, Murray made a radio call for artillery support. When the artillery landed slightly off target, he attempted to call for a range correction but the radio went dead. Not wanting to send his patrol against the much larger German force, he retrieved rifle grenades from his men and returned to his vantage point to begin a single-handed attack on the position. Although his fire alerted the Germans to his location, he continued to shoot grenades and later an automatic rifle into the German unit. As the soldiers attempted to withdraw, he disabled a truck which was carrying out three mortars. Members of his patrol brought up their own mortar, and Murray directed its fire until the Germans had scattered towards Ammerschwihr. Continuing on the footpath, he and his men captured ten German soldiers. An eleventh soldier approached him with his helmet off and his arms raised. When Murray turned to shout orders, the soldier tossed a grenade; the explosion knocked Murray to the ground and sent eight pieces of shrapnel into his left leg. After getting back to his feet, he stopped his men from killing the prisoner. Only after organizing the patrol into a defensive position did he turn over command of the company and find an aid station. His actions that day earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor from the War Department, General Orders No. 63, August 1, 1945. His citation states: "The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Charles Patrick "Chuck" Murray, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty while commanding Company C, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division, displaying supreme courage and heroic initiative near Kaysersberg, France, on 16 December 1944, while leading a reinforced platoon into enemy territory. Descending into a valley beneath hilltop positions held by our troops, he observed a force of 200 Germans pouring deadly mortar, bazooka, machine gun, and small arms fire into an American battalion occupying the crest of the ridge. The enemy's position in a sunken road, though hidden from the ridge, was open to a flank attack by First Lieutenant Murray's patrol but he hesitated to commit so small a force to battle with the superior and strongly disposed enemy. Crawling out ahead of his troops to a vantage point, he called by radio for artillery fire. His shells bracketed the German force, but when he was about to correct the range his radio went dead. He returned to his patrol, secured grenades and a rifle to launch them and went back to his self-appointed outpost. His first shots disclosed his position; the enemy directed heavy fire against him as he methodically fired his missiles into the narrow defile. Again he returned to his patrol. With an automatic rifle and ammunition, he once more moved to his exposed position. Burst after burst he fired into the enemy, killing 20, wounding many others, and completely disorganizing its ranks, which began to withdraw. He prevented the removal of three German mortars by knocking out a truck. By that time a mortar had been brought to his support. First Lieutenant Murray directed fire of this weapon, causing further casualties and confusion in the German ranks. Calling on his patrol to follow, he then moved out toward his original objective, possession of a bridge and construction of a roadblock. He captured ten Germans in foxholes. An eleventh, while pretending to surrender, threw a grenade which knocked him to the ground, inflicting eight wounds. Though suffering and bleeding profusely, he refused to return to the rear until he had chosen the spot for the block and had seen his men correctly deployed. By his single-handed attack on an overwhelming force and by his intrepid and heroic fighting, First Lieutenant Murray stopped a counterattack, established an advance position against formidable odds, and provided an inspiring example for the men of his command." After receiving medical treatment, Murray rejoined his unit on December 28, 1944. He learned that he had been recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor in March of the next year and, per Army policy, was soon removed from combat. He remained with his division and was in Salzburg, Austria, on May 7, 1945, when a ceasefire was declared. The next day, Germany's surrender was finalized and the war in Europe was over. Murray was issued the Congressional Medal of Honor on August 1, 1945, eight months after the fight near Kaysersberg. It was formally presented to him during a ceremony in Salzburg, with the entire 3rd Infantry Division in attendance. He arrived home in Wilmington in September to a hero's welcome, but later returned to Europe and served four years of occupation duty. During this time, he was stationed in Salzburg and became the head U.S. intelligence officer in that city. Following the Second World War, Murray remained in the army, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War, achieving the rank of Colonel. He also served as Commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the "Old Guard". In 1970, he transferred to Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, from where he retired in 1973. In addition to the Congressional Medal of Honor, he received three Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars (with Valor devices), a Purple Heart, a Combat Infantryman Badge, and the French Legion of Honor for valor. In his civilian life, Murray worked for the South Carolina Department of Corrections until his final retirement, he and his wife, Anne, living in Columbia, South Carolina. He died from congestive heart failure on August 12, 2011, at the age of 89 in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, Plot: Section 60, Grave 9725. Murray Middle School in Wilmington is named in his honor.