Wiley B. Murray Post No. 27 Part 4 of a Series
Wiley B. Murray
Wiley Badget Murray was born June 30, 1896, the second child of T. A. and Ethel Badget Murray. He grew up in San Saba, and after attending the local school, he entered Bingham Military School at Ashville, North Carolina. After graduating in 1914, Wiley enrolled at the University of Texas and was in the junior class when the US entered the war in 1917. Murray volunteered and was appointed to one of the first Officer Candidate Schools (OCS) at Leon Springs in May 1917. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on August 15, 1917 and was assigned to duty at Camp Travis with the 90th Division where he trained for overseas service.
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In January 1918, Murray was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and in June, he was sent to France. He went to the front line with Co. I, 360th Infantry Regiment, and “over the top” with his company for the first time on September 12th. He was in the fighting zone constantly from that time to November 1st. The 360th was assigned the supreme task of breaking down the strongest point of the German defense in the great Meuse-Argonne attack, which was to be a fight to a decision.
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The attack order sent Co. I and Co. K to form the first wave. Lieutenant Murray led his platoon into a hailstorm of machine gun bullets, artillery shells and a huge quantity of thermite. He was wounded and taken to a hospital in Bordeaux, France. Murray lived long enough to see the Armistice but died tragically on November 21, 1918, not from his battle wounds but probably from the Spanish Flu. His family later had his body brought home to San Saba where he was re-interred at the San Saba City Cemetery. He never married. However, his name and memory would live on through the local American Legion.
17 To be continued - All sources are available upon request. (325-205-0180)