Farmersville, Texas on 29 October 2013. Dates of rank Death In his civilian life, Murphy was at odds with what he perceived as an innate film industry culture of phoniness, once likening his own acting career to prostitution. He was uncomfortable being an iconic war hero, and felt used because of that image. However, he often spoke of his kinship with the military, "I have to admit that I love the damned Army. It was father, mother, brother to me for years. It made me somebody, gave me self-respect." Although he was officially retired from the military when he died in a private plane crash on 28 May 1971 at Brush Mountain, near Catawba, Virginia, his ties to the military and to his home state were evident in the aftermath. The Texas state legislature ordered all flags on state buildings to be flown at half staff to honor Murphy. The memorial service held in his hometown of Farmersville, Texas, was in part sponsored by the Thomas Glenn Caraway Post of the VFW, and Farmersville businesses closed their doors for an hour in memoriam. His eulogy at the memorial service in the Hollywood Hills was delivered by an Army chaplain. While very few Hollywood celebrities attended, among the mourners were six Medal of Honor recipients, General John W. O'Daniel and several 3rd Infantry Division veterans who had fought with him. A month later, on 4 July, Sacramento, California, canceled its annual Independence Day parade because Murphy was to have been the grand marshal. In its place a memorial service at Capitol Park was attended mostly by veterans. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on 7 June. The U.S. Army Band marched in front of six black horses that pulled the caisson with his flag-draped casket from Fort Myer Chapel to the cemetery. Among the mourners at the cemetery were government dignitaries and multiple veterans groups. As a result of legislation introduced by U.S. Congressman Olin Teague five months after Murphy's death in 1971, the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio, now a part of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, was dedicated in 1973. VFW Post 5311 in Virginia worked for 3 years with the United States Forest Service for permission to erect a monument at the site of Murphy's death. Made from a donated granite slab and carved by a stonecutter