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My friend Charles Murray has died. When I needed him to come help us raise money for poverty at the Robin Hood dinner in New York a few months back, he showed up. When his country needed him to fight in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, he showed up. For his actions against the Nazis, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was a warm, modest and wonderful man, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his terrific family. This is what I've written about him for our broadcast tonight (see below) and this is his story from our Foundation's book, Medal of Honor. We have lost a patriot and a wonderful man. His death leaves 84 living recipients of the Medal of Honor.
Charles Murray died today. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor from World War II.
It was just before Christmas in 1944, when after landing on Omaha Beach, as a young lieutenant pushing toward Germany, he single-handedly launched an attack on an enemy position. Using artilery, grenades and a rifle he stood his ground, on a hill, despite being visible to the enemy. He killed and scattered the entire enemy force, captured 10 of them. When a grenade was thrown at him he took eight pieces of shrapnel.
The entire 3rd Infantry was present when he was given the Medal of Honor. He went on to serve four more years in Europe, then Korea and Vietnam. Three wars, three Silver Stars, two bronze stars, a purple heart and the Medal of Honor.
Charles Murray was 89 years old. His death leaves 84 living recipients.
I hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.
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When they showed the picture of Charles Murray, I'm pretty sure it was Audie Murphy standing next to him. Another great war hero. I'm surprised he didn't mention it.
Joan,
You are correct. That is Audie Murphy standing beside Charles Murray in that picture which was taken around 1955. I am also surprised Brian Williams didn't mention him either. Sadly, we have lost another great one from the "greatest generation" of Americans.
When they displayed the picture of Charles Murray, I'm pretty sure Audie Murphy was standing next to him. I'm surprised he didn't mention it.
Brian: Thanks for the story on Charles Murray. Another hero has passed away. Thanks for the segments on Medal of Honor winners. Viewers should check out the profiles, on line, of all of the recipients of the highest award of military valor. These stories are a valuable asset to NBC News and to all patriotic Americans. Thanks again Brian, for I do believe NBC is the only network who brings us these stories on a nightly newscast. Have a great weekend, and I'll catch you on Monday night
please don't refer to the men that have been awarded the Medal of Honor as 'winners'. then did not 'win' it in a raffle or at bingo. i know you probably did not mean to intentionally call them winners in that context.
Your friend Mr. Murray sounds like he was an “old school, stand up kinda guy” that unfortunately seems to be in short supply these days.
The story on the free Dental care in Atlanta seems like something out of the Depression era, needless to say, so many people were not expected to show up, kind of scary to ponder your own future since I’m sure many of the folks that were on that line never thought they’d have to line up at 5am to beat the crowd for any kind of medical attention.
Been missing you and your comedic touch to the Friday night wrap-up portion of the broadcast, good to see it back in full effect this evening.
Good Evening Mr.Williams, A great broadcast this evening. A wonderful tribute in your posting and on the broadcast to Medal of Honor recipient Charles Murray. So sad he passed away. He was truly a hero. What a brave a dedicated soldier. We Salute All the Medal of Honor Recipients.
First of all the report about the economy by Sue Herera told of a wild week on the stock market and that consumer confidence is far below what was expected which is totally understandable considering the circumstances. People are angry at Washington, the job numbers are awful with unemployment rating very high and people are struggling to make ends meet and the volatile stock market with the numbers either sharply falling or rising. Time will tell what will come in the coming weeks and months.
The report by Mr.Potter showed people in Woodstock, Ga lining up for free dental care at a dental clinic in Woodstock, Ga by the Georgia Dental Association. So many people who had jobs with health insurance now laid off and cannot afford dental care. Seeing so many people lined up and receiving free dental care is staggering, yet in this economy and so many people out of work these clinics are really needed. One hopes everyone will get the care they need. A sign of bad economic times.
The report by Richard from Kabul concerning the terrible crackdown in Syria against the protestors showed how the president of Syria should really step down. Seeing the tremendous numbers of protestors out in the streets only to be gunned down by the government forces is awful. The pressure seems to be mounting against president al-Assad and with nations such as the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia asking for him to step down. One hopes the horrible violence ceases.
The report by Mr.Maceda from Britain showed how the people of the country are fighting back against the senseless violence that happened during the week. It was awful to hear what happened to some of the businesses such as the owner of the barbershop. There is a spirit wih the people that will rebuild the cities and learning how much has been donated is wonderful. Taking control and believing in a great future.
Wonderful to hear that 1 million has been raised in the Rachel Beckwith fund to make sure children throughout the world have clean water to drink.
Enjoyed the segment on news stories not covered this week!
Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Peace to You and to All!
Be Well Everyone!
Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard! Excellent Reporting As Always!
Take Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!
Lisa
What planet is the NBC Nightly News broadcasting from? Brian Williams just contradicted JPL/NASA tonight when he declared that the Perseid Meteor showers were "considered optimal this year because there won't be a moon in the sky" despite the fact that the Moon will actually be full and consequently very much in the sky and, per NASA (www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cfm?release=2010-385): "The International Meteor Organization calls the 2011 Perseids 'hopelessly moonlit'. This will render lackluster what is usually an impressive show."
During Wednesday's story about Lee Grace Dougherty and her gun-toting bank-robbing police-evading brothers, a Nightly News graphic identified an FBI spokesman as "Phil Niedringhausm". His last name is actually "Niedringhaus". Minutes later, a promo for "Meet the Press" spelled Michele Bachmann's first name as "Michelle". With all the attention she has received over the past few months, I would think that most fifth-graders probably know how to spell Ms. Bachmann's name. Too bad NBC News doesn't have a fifth grader on their staff. It's also too bad that they don't care the least bit about accuracy. I guess they just like adding letters to people's names. They should talk to Pat Sajak about buying some consonants in bulk.
On Thursday's broadcast, Brian Williams told us that Chuck Todd was reporting from Ames, Iowa when Todd was actually reporting from Des Moines. Maybe someone should buy Brian a GPS device to help him keep track of his correspondents.
Meanwhile, here's what passes for actual news at Nightly News. Friday's final story was--as Brian put it, "Some of the news we didn't get to during this very busy week." So what stories, pray tell, were included in this "news" wrap-up?
*A mocking story about the Flying Wing plane crashing--complete with animation and wacky sound effects.
*A woman who paid for an aerial banner "thanking" S & P for the downgrade.
*Two space shuttles passing each other on a NASA runway while the song "Reunited" plays.
*Brian's reassurance that Bert & Ernie are not gay. Obviously, the only reason Brian did this story was to promote the PBS Kids Sprout network which is owned in part by Comcast--NBC's parent company ("Sesame Street" airs on PBS Kids Sprout).
*Gratuitous shots of Vladimir Putin performing feats of strength. Brian derisively criticizes Putin's ego, seemingly without a shred of irony or self-awareness.
*An obituary for Johnny Cash's bass player.
*A shameless plug for a song that Brian likes by the group Foster the People.
*A story about how the French came up with a vending machine that dispenses baguettes.
*Fifteen seconds of Mishka the talking Husky saying, "I Love You".
That's right--these were the important stories that Nightly News didn't have time for this week. Apparently, they were too busy bringing us stories about Lucille Ball (on three consecutive days), the death of Don Imus's brother, dogs that help people testify in court (obviously Mishka could do her own testifying) and a woman who threw out the first pitch of a minor league baseball game without knowing that the catcher was her husband who was just home from Afghanistan. Of course, the funniest part of this final story was when Brian said, "So in our last two minutes of the week here, let's get caught up." Actually, the story lasted 3 1/2 minutes, but who's counting. Is it possible that Brian intentionally misstated the time of the story because he felt embarrassed for passing off this pointless load of drivel as news? Nah, he probably just got befuddled when he heard Mishka's dulcet tones.
And in case anyone is wondering why Brian is the only network news anchor who reports the deaths of Medal of Honor winners, it's because he's the only anchor who serves on the board of the Medal of Honor Foundation. He's just promoting his own organization. He's keeping the MOH Foundation in the news because he wants people to donate money. The other networks don't report MOH deaths because they're simply not newsworthy events.
Few service people are even reported about on news stations but the guys love to know what's happening back in the States. We lost 31 brave soldiers recently and I emailed Bagram air force base to let them know we care. NBC Fan I will copy/paste your comment above to let the guys know your opinion of all this and in your words
. The other networks don't report MOH deaths because they're simply not newsworthy events.
To the Military families we thank all the news stations that honor our brave soldiers serving in these Wars and the Americans who care.
Brian thanks for the news of the week as there is always to much to report in one half hour show.
have a great weekend all
Congrats to Michele Bachmann's win in the Iowa Straw poll. Here website and other legal documents should be changed as right now her name is spelled Michele. With Pawlenty out of the race maybe he can join in and help Michele. Prophet Gov. Perry has former President George W. Bush helping him behind the scenes and that will help alot as GW was one of the most famous US Presidents. Using religion and saying God came to him and said he should be President worked for Bush and can work for Perry as the faithful will follow.
hola, brian, the world news has been so hard lately that i decided to forego the radio and i put on barbra streisand's cd 'higher ground'. it starts out with one of my father's favorite songs, i think it's a song that was written during wwi, 'i believe' and she combines it with 'never walk alone' as the first song. i suppose i could have played yo-yo-ma playing the bach cello suites which i do when my poor little brain hurts like this, but i wanted words. she did several concerts for fundraising for bill clinton's presidency. we have had some good rain down here in podunk cochise county, i hope it's county-wide, our bread basket is elfrida near douglas and the border. i wish i could send my tall green grass, since i haven't had the energy to go out and weed-whack, it is calf high and taller in some spots, to the animals in the horn of africa. they would love it. so, my little place is a tropical jungle, what africa once was. someone needs to dig deep wells for somalia and kenya and do irrigation for pasture. with water, a decent living is possible for rural peoples. and it's such a relaxing pace from the daily grind of the cities, a good place to raise your kids, look at our armed forces, many of them are from small rural towns. heifer international gives animals to poor rural people of the developing countries from donations, they could slowly replace the small herds that they lost, once they get themselves and their children healthy and well. the other night i pulled up the site for lewa safari camp which came up when i googled 'lewa' which came up in a junk mail address, it is in northern kenya, watching one of the long-horned herds leap across the savannah was a real mood-lifter, wow, it made my heart sing. they are set up for tourism and they help educate the village children. hope you had an okay week-end, it's alot to hope for a good week-end these days, yowza. best, anna martina
Brian: First the earthquake, and now hurricane Irene. Its been a weird weather tear thus far. I hope New York won't suffer any major damage from this event. Can you imagine the effects that would occur in the Big Apple? Transportation, such as taxis, subways and busses would turn into a nightmare, not to mention all the cars, locally and from out of town. I hope those computer spaghetti strands are way off course; however it looks like we won't escape this one. I'll catch you on tomorow night's broadcast, and hopefully the situation won't be as gruesome.