CARIBOU, Maine — The local Marine Corps League recently honored Allen Murphy, a former Marine and Portage resident, for receiving a Silver Star for heroic actions in Vietnam.
The League’s Meo Bosse Detachment 1414, which represents northern Aroostook Marines, presented Murphy with a large, handmade sign honoring his receipt of the award during a Jan. 20 meeting in Cary Medical Center’s Chan Center.
The sign was created by Marine Corps League member Lionel Lavoie, who has been painting ever since he was in Vietnam.
“When I was in the [demilitarized zone], I would take the C-ration boxes apart and draw on them,” Lavoie said, adding that he’s been painting ever since.
The sign he created for Murphy was a two-month effort, and he said he often has no idea how a project will turn out when he first begins.
“When I start off I don’t know how it’s going to end up,” he said. “I just keep adding and adding.”
Murphy received his Silver Star Sept. 1, 2017, a half-century after he carried a fellow Marine to safety after his legs were shot out while on patrol in October of 1965.
At the time, Murphy had to remove his weapon and combat armor in order to carry the wounded man 35 yards to a safe location, and used the the man’s weapon to fire back at Viet Cong along the way. He soon learned that he’d earned a Silver Star, the third-highest military combat decoration, for his heroism, but didn’t receive it until Sept. 1 of 2017.
League Commander Vaughn Hardacker said the record of Murphy’s Silver Star was sent to a building in Kansas City that caught on fire, and that he’d been waiting for over 50 years to get recognition for his actions.
Murphy was surprised by the Marine Corps League’s recognition, and said he was embarrassed when they presented the sign.
“I don’t like to make a big deal out of it,” he said. “It happened a long time ago.” He said he was “very honored” that his fellow Marines took the time to recognize him.
Hardacker said Murphy didn’t know about the presentation, and that he’s “one of those guys who will say ‘No, I don’t need it’ when you try to do something for them.”
Adjutant Paymaster Wayne Caron said Murphy is a “good supporter of the Marine Corps League,” and that he makes sure to attend every meeting he can.
Both Caron and Hardacker said they’ve received similar handmade signs from Lavoie, and that the varnish and quality hold up over time.
“I figure this is the least we could do for him,” Caron said.
While Senator Susan Collins played a significant part in helping Murphy finally obtain the award, Murphy said he’d heard that President Trump made sure that he, and other veterans with records in that Kansas City building, were honored for their actions.
“From what I heard,” Murphy said, “and this is all hearsay, but I heard that once Trump came into office, he said ‘Why isn’t this done?’ Once he found out about it, it was done just like that. People criticize Trump, but at least he got something done.”
Murphy served in several outfits during the Vietnam war, and shared some anecdotes of his time overseas.
He explained how a decision to switch from M14 to AR15 rifles resulted in several American casualties.
“The ammunition was lighter, and it had more firepower,” he said, “but the powder mixture plugged the guns up. Several thousand Marines were either wounded or killed because their guns jammed up.”
During his first tour in 1964, he said he and his fellow soldiers were told that they had to leave Vietnam in a matter of days, which none of them understood at the time because they appeared to be winning.
“We came to learn that it was because of the election,” he said. “President Johnson wanted to be able to say that there were no combat troops in Vietnam. Goldwater [Johnson’s opponent in the 1964 election] wanted to keep us there.”
He was soon brought back for his second and third tours. He noted approximately 10,000 Canadians served in the war to compensate for draft dodgers in the United States, and that these veterans are not often accounted for.
Fifty years later, Murphy still keeps in touch with his fellow servicemen, and says he makes an effort to attend as many reunions as he can.
