Born: December 30, 1919
Died: February 19, 1945
Campaigns Served: Namur, Saipan, Tinian (wounded), Iwo Jima (killed)
Highest Rank Attained: First Sergeant
Decorations:
Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Gold Star
Richard Murphy enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1939. He saw duty with the Fifth Marines at Quantico, Virginia, and the First Provisional Marine Company at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
With Dog Company:
Richard Murphy was a platoon sergeant with the Second Machine Gun Platoon when Dog Company was formed. He was soon promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, and became a section leader in charge of two machine gun crews.
Gunny Murphy fought in the battle of Namur, and was transferred to Baker Company in March, 1944.
With Baker Company:
Murphy remained a section leader through the spring of 1944 and the battle of Saipan. He was promoted to First Sergeant on July 18, 1944, and left the guns for the Company Headquarters. Murphy was wounded in the final days of the Tinian campaign, but recovered enough to take over for departing First Sergeant Milton Cooper.
Richard Murphy was killed in action on February 19, 1945, shortly after the landing on Iwo Jima. The Silver Star he was awarded for his actions that day would go to his widow in Lansing, Illinois
First Sergeant Murphy was buried in Plot 1, Row 4, Grave 197 of the Fourth Marine Division Cemetery; after the war, he was reinterred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Section F, Site 1124.