to be a real surrender gesture, and made himself visible, beckoning to the German soldiers to come towards him. He was immediately killed by machine gun fire coming from within the house. Murphy advanced alone on the house, seemingly impervious to the German fire being directed at him. He wounded two Germans, killed six, and took the others as prisoners. His actions that day took approximately one hour, during which he killed eight German soldiers, wounded three and took eleven as prisoners. Murphy received the Distinguished Service Cross. During 27–28 August, at Montélimar, Murphy and the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, along with the 36th Infantry Division, engaged in an offensive battle to secure the area from the Germans. The 3rd and 36th Divisions took 500 prisoners in the city on 29 August. For these actions the 1st Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment received the Presidential Unit Citation. Northeastern France The 3rd Infantry Division was part of an offensive plan to break through German resistance in northeastern France, as far as Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. In the area of Genevreuille on 15 September 1944, Murphy narrowly escaped death from an exploding mortar shell that killed two others and wounded three. Although his resulting heel wound was not serious, he received his first Purple Heart. By this point, all but Murphy and two others of Company B's original group had either been killed or taken off the lines with wounds. General O'Daniel moved the 15th Infantry, 3rd Division to the Moselle and the Cleurie valley in late September. Stone quarries dotted the hills and provided good defensive positions for the Germans. The 15th was met with fierce resistance north of St. Ame at the heavily fortified multi-tunneled L'Omet quarry. On 2 October at L'Omet, Murphy advanced alone to the location of a machine gun manned by a unit of German soldiers. Within of the machine gun nest, he rose to his feet. "The Germans spot me instantly", he recalled. "The gunner spins the tip of his weapon toward me. But the barrel catches in a limb, and the burst whizzes to my right". Murphy lobbed two hand grenades at the men, killing four and wounding three. He was awarded the Silver Star for this action. The 15th achieved success in its continued attack when Germans began evacuating the quarry on 5 October. On that date, Murphy, while carrying a SCR-536