BERNARD J. MURPHY PAPERS

Collection

Identifier: TMD41

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection spans December 24, 1944 to March 29, 1945 and includes letters between Murphy and his wife, Yvette. Also included are letters between Murphy and his sister-in-law, Rheita Turgeon. Murphy began sending letters home just two days after his arrival in Italy. His first letters describe his impressions of Italy. Later letters provide numerous details and observations about his life on the front lines, his brief hospitalization and his short assignment to a rest camp.

Dates

1944-1945

ACCESS:

The collection is open for research.

PUBLICATION RIGHTS:

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Bernard J. Murphy was born in Quebec, Canada in 1916. In the 1920s, his family immigrated to the French speaking section of Manchester, New Hampshire where he attended a primarily French language grammar school. Murphy enlisted in the Army on May 4, 1944 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. At the time of his enlistment, he was married and working as a machine operator.

Murphy received his basic training at Camp Blanding, Florida. He joined the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Swift, Texas where he was assigned to the 86th Infantry Regiment, Company E. The 86th Regiment departed Camp Swift on November 29, 1944 by train and arrived at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia on December 2. As the lead element of the 10th Mountain Division to deploy to Italy, the 86th Regiment embarked for Naples, Italy on December 11, 1944 and arrived on December 22.

Murphy was killed in action on April 14, 1945, the first day of the Division's major spring offensive. During the battle for Rocca Roffeno, Murphy, who was assigned to Company E's heavy weapons platoon, was hit by enemy machine gun fire. He is buried at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial site in Florence, Italy.