Frank Sinatra Wrote ME a Letter

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My name is panicking.

Stay current grant Miami. My dad is the boxing coach for the University of Miami and discontinued boxing in 1954 believe that at the time he had two jobs he worked for the Coral Gables fire department and he was the boxing coach for the University of Miami. So when they discontinued boxing. He started refereeing and job so as when I was growing up. Not sure how old I was when he started taking me to the fights, but I feel like I was only seven. Every Friday night I was over on Miami Beach with my dad and going to fight so I grew up like knowing all the boxers and growing up in that world to me. I just left boxing. We found out that the Johansson Patterson heavyweight championship fight was going in be in Miami and of course you know I dislike my CAT scan referee you know but they really they don't find out who's going to referee a fight until like five minutes before the fight. They come over and get tagged. You know to do it. So long story short, my dad, I there was one other referee that I knew was probably had enough experience or that it was between my dad and this other guy well and his name was Cy Godfrey and my dad was Billy Regan and but Cy refereed 10 rounder right before the main event and so I knew I knew that my dad was so I hid it. You know I just was heading down towards to see my dad to come here couldn't get this fun and I was behind the bleachers, but they were holding the crown back and all of a sudden I looked up and like 10 feet in front of me is Frank Sinatra and he's standing there with that you know he had his finger on his coat over his shoulder. He had on and I I was stopped in my tracks. I was Pittsburgh's doctor, so I never made it down to ringside to talk to my dad before the fight that he did in fact referee the fight and it was when Patterson regained the title from your Hansen and so when I found my dad after the fight course the first thing I said to them wasn't to referee the fight was like small frames and drag it out. So anyway, the story had kind of circulated through the live fighters and Kristin D.

Who was the promoter at the time and again everybody gave me a hard time for not getting his autograph and I was like I was just scared I didn't know what to do so was a few months later, I think, and I was at the fights with my dad and Chris Dendy came up to me and he goes all right. Frank's coming in tonight and he's going to come in through that door over there right at 9 o'clock so you keep your eyes peeled and you go get your autograph this time so it's sure enough, at 9 o'clock that door open, and in comes Frank and I'm ready so I go over there there taking him to his seed. But the thing was his Chris forgot to tell security to let me through so they're not letting me through and again can't get his autograph.

So I was too soft disappointed because I felt like I had a clear path at night anyway. I went home and I ended up writing them a letter and he was performing over the fountain blue at the time and I wrote them a letter and I explained everything. I explained that my dad had referee the championship fight that I had been standing 10 feet unit with a clear path to him but was scared and that Kristin told me was coming in the other night and that you not had my paper and pen ready but then security wouldn't let me through, and I said so now it looks like I'm never going to get your autograph, you know, if you could just send it to me that I would prefer so, and I mailed the letter off to Frank Sinatra at the fountain blue hotel so it was a few days later guy. I don't know that my dad called me chuckling and he said I got the strange phone call today and he had was working at the fire station at the time and he said this guy calls me amigos are you the Billy Regan that refereeing the handsome Patterson fight and he said yeah I said okay, thank God. Frank's been driving us nuts. Your daughter wrote him a letter somebody threw away the envelope. He doesn't have an address and he wants to send her picture so my dad gave him the address and I have my autograph picture from Franks and Hunter from the Kings breaker is another story about over his brothers, William got stories like in some internal American stories.com brushes with greatness or a celebrity or star you really love or care about tell us stories again summoned to L American stories.com and I could just picture it by noon and Frank was always working on that image no matter where he walked back coat was over his back is like so many of his records that have that signature that was always there was a day when he played little places like the fountain blue but where that hotel is still there and still has topline entertainment you want to get a taste of the old Miami it's still there self-interest. So a great place to go and have some fun with some great music and enjoy the song Patty Kings breaker story. Her story of her encounter all or almost encounter Frank Sinatra your own L American stories American stories we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith and love stories were great and beautiful country need to be told we can't do it without you. Our stores are free to listen to are not free to make love our stories in America like we do.

Please. Well American stories.com and click the donate button give a little of a lot about the great American stories coming L American stories.com American stories or were about to tell you one of the essential American stories about one of the most esteemed American vets. Chances are you've never heard this man's name. Now let's go to the story of had over 250 kills in World War II is America's most decorated soldier having received the award citation and decoration the Army could give including all before turn went though it looked became a movie star invokes 17 songs which were recorded by guys like Martin Porter Wagoner Jimmy Dean and Charlie pride wrote a best-selling autobiography and started its film adaptation, which became Universal Studios highest grossing film 20 years until jaws broke its record in 1975. His grave is the second most visited Arlington national Cemetery, JFK since the first. Yet this 5 foot, 510 pound baby faced hero is practically unknown in America today, which is astonishing considering just 50+ years ago he received more fan mail than any other celebrity in Hollywood. Find out more about this American hero. Let's take a listen to the man who wrote the book. Dr. David E. Smith is an American history professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He wrote the price of valor of life of Audie Murphy, America's most decorated hero World War II.

I asked him who is Audie Murphy an American combine the role as he does the mode decorated soldier from the big war we've ever fought the same time right after he was a movie star at a time in Hollywood movie star at a cultural cachet. They would never have one of the things I thought about him is that he bring these role together bring together the role of genuine hero and celebrity and they don't match they don't match at all me that he wrote was a very part of your thing hero is an important cultural element within any culture hero is how we learn what virtue hero is someone who, for a small amount of time bodies. Of particular virtues of idea. We have trouble relating to it until we get in the flesh. That's what he was worth self determination. The patriotism is that God becomes a movie and he hated being like movie stars. His first wife whom he was married for just a year wanted to be a movie battling Hollywood and that's what drove them apart hated hated bony of everything and his own talent to hang around other actors, mostly when he was on that he would hang around the horse Wrangler prop here one person you have three Marilyn Green celebrity try this story.

Psychology and legend hero is a man of divine ancestry was endowed with great courage and strength celebrated for his brave exploits and savored by the gods in reality, Audie was all these things, but as to the part of ancestry. It was far from divine ears. Joanne Mattern, author of Audie Murphy back Audie Murphy was born on June 20, 1925 and he was born in a little town called Kingston.

His parents were sharecroppers and that mean that they picked cotton in fields but they did on the field. The field were owned by someone else and in return for working all they got was a little shack to live in tiny little bit of the money that they earned everything else went to the owner of the field house they lived in, with no more than a little shack. It had no running water, no bathroom electricity. They had 12 children altogether and the kids were old enough, maybe 45 so they went to work in the cotton fields with their parents Audie later that that worked and that it was a full-time job. In fact, when Audie was born, his mother Josie couldn't take time off take care of the baby so she put them in a baby swing and took him out in the cotton fields with her father. His name was Emmett, and Emmett was pretty lazy, more interested in in gambling and having a good time and the only time they got any meat to eat. What is Audie and his brothers went out and hunted them. A neighbor once when Audie gone, and it had eight bullets in it and Audie went hunting came back with four rabbit and four bullet the left and the gun shot. He was Audie sister Dean Murphy's Little Clinton were taken kill a rabbit on Ron Townley. We go out and kill squirrel ran and I guess we can say were lab calls hero right there again is Dr. Smith on him throughout his entire life is duty to the people who are depending on him. He felt duty toward his younger sibling in a profound way.

Times were beginning to unfold. That would shape his destiny forever. The country was in the throes of the Great Depression that one point things got so bad for the Murphys that they moved into a railroad boxcar when he was 13 years old father left the family and he never came back. Now what he had to step up and beat a man of the house and in order to do that he had so he never got started, but the person that was hard hit in the family was his mother.

Josie and 1941, died of pneumonia and he said early death is not unusual in the story of a sharecropper family, particularly when the sharecropper runs off, leaving his wife to take care of their children. Anyway, Dean had younger brother take care of and couldn't take care of them work today were sent to an orphanage and then everything changed Murphy his Michael West will fall seven Audie Murphy and Bunnell Hackney were actually double date and after they returned from the movie theater learn course of the bombing immediately. All the young man you chose to join that included only Murphy as well. That is only about 70 years old plus, he was playing with that baby face recruiter recognized these to go draws Marines virtually laughing about the paratroopers let that never works out. So finally, he is simply run off. In essence, that he doesn't don't know he was a year older than he was so 18. He went back and joined the Army story so far just didn't know know the circumstances. My goodness, losing a father and mother and then having kids or from living a boxcar when we come back more on the life of Audie Murphy.

This is our American story turned our American stories were telling the story of audit Murphy. If you've never seen the movie going back comes on TV all the time. This time, don't skip this terrific slight storage remake to everybody today known. Let's return to Greg and Audie stored Army infantry is the most accepting of recruits will appear to possess the least amount of skills needed for combat. Audie Murphy attended to boot camps before seeing any action in both camps. The Army tried to check the little nicknamed baby try to put them in their post office and then their kitchen. Audie would have none of it around from the very beginning and he would literally push himself until he collapsed him. Remember clearly, even though it was all in the carriers wanted to find someplace that he might be a better fit on one good infantry intrigue and he said absolutely not. I want to be in the tree marked with this pack big as I am and I'm to do it.

Reluctantly let them say they Audie was assigned to Company B, 15th infantry Regiment, third division, no one can know that this poor tenant farmers one day helped cause the demise promised thousand year right performing such wondrous deeds in battle seemed almost mythological combat with the third division is in the invasion of Sicily and Larry is a soldier in his company and they are extremely close.

Laddie has been estranged wife and daughter and Audie. I don't know if I want to thank him for this special wife and daughter, because he doesn't have much in the way family and he talks to Laddie about his daughter. All and says you know you're going to get back to see here, you're going to get back to are you going to be a great father. They come ashore in France together in August, 44, and fighting their way up the hill. Laddie working their way up till the whole repeated periods of German machine gun and played and they surrendered and they they wave a white I Laddie says okay there surrendered, we can go get German sniper from someplace else up on the hill.

Laddie any collapses right down, and Audie lap and he does not draw his gun and everybody looked great. Maybe, and he goes back to Laddie's body and he cries over and a heartbreaking lien but it him distinguish cervical distinguished service crosses the second highest military award after the medal of honor. That was one of the only two moments in Audie's life. He openly admitted to crying the other being the death of his mother is Dr. Smith with the heroic act that would earn Audie Murphy the Congressional medal of honor in the respect and love of the United States of America medal of honor is probably the most impressive story that you make here to grant he's coming up to the German border on the snow on the ground. Icy cold leading a couple of tanks and a platoon of soldiers southward toward the town and from the town toward him from the company of German soldiers may be more maybe of Italian and and to hang what he has with him are a couple of things that look like tanks but there called tank destroyers there faster and they're lighter than tanks and there meant to be able to shoot tanks than Galway but both of those things. Both of those tank destroyers are knocked out of commission really early on in this firefight and he realizes that without those tank destroyers to give his men cover to be incredibly hard for them to continue their push south across the field and he orders his men to start to fall back toward the forest and he stays out of the front point of the position because he has a radio and he's calling in artillery from the rear and telling you know where to drop the artillery rounds and he was always very good at this, which serves him very well and he started to pull back and both of the tanks that are within the been knocked out and he realizes that if the Germans overrun this position that he has. They will go straight into the woods and straight to the headquarters of his company and overrun their entire position and he he realizes he got a stay there as long as he can and is easy yelling into the radio yell and coordinate any sort of backing up and then he realizes that over to his right. The tank that's been knocked out of commission and that the men inside are dead.

He's he realizes that the 50 caliber gun up on the top of it up on the chart is still operable and he climbs up on the tank. Then he said he trained the gun on the Germans coming across the field toward him and the tank is burning so it's producing the water smoke and it masks his position that gives them covered like a smokescreen and he he swiveled back and forth with the 50 caliber shooting at these German soldiers that are coming across the field and getting really close. Later he said I remember being up on their and the thought I had was the first time my feet have been warm for three months and across the radio comes the question, how close are they to your position as responses if you let you talk to one and he's in it gets to the point where the show coming in and hitting our jarring him and kicking him around hitting so close to. And finally, finally, they they begin to pull back and and he realizes that the Germans are withdrawing and he climbs down off the spanking, shaking, and he walks over to a tree. Any liens against Trina just slumps down to the ground and write about that time the tank he was standing on explode and it blows that turret you know what happened to the air and often the word and the people who watch the people who filled out the report for him eyewitness reports for him to get the medal of honor said they had never even seen anything like it. They couldn't believe it, and they thought they couldn't believe they sought and when we come back more of this remarkable story Audie Murphy story here on our American stories. The final segment of this remarkable life. This remarkable man American stories we bring you inspiring stories of history, boards, business, faith and love stories from a great and beautiful country need to be told we can't do it without you are stories are free to listen to with her not free to make love are stories in America like we well American stories.com click the donate button give a little one great American stories coming American stories.com and we continue with our American stories. Let's return to Greg in the final part. If you happen end up in a foxhole with Audie Murphy was going to talk to you and what you might hear is not what you think all the time finds himself sitting foxhole with Audie Murphy and Audie. You know, don't be afraid to be scared there's going to be times you're scared that Audie told I'm always scared front. The irony is that everybody else in the division says when we hear that Audie Murphy the front. The rest of us in the rear can go to sleep and sleep well but Audie Kelton will be times when you want to cry and it's okay to cry. Audie transforms very much over the course of his time as a soldier from someone who had nothing but pain. Sort of like Pat file for people who can't take it break under combat to somebody who understand intimately how harrowing it isn't what it can attendance in the thousands.

Murphy received his medal of honor Austrian city of Salzburg may of 45 airfield just outside of Falkirk. He had the survivors will already get brave soldiers but the guys who were killed and one is the one who deserves the honor.

Photographs of him standing there. You think the links to life magazine putting Audie on its cover.

He returned an American hero. I asked Dr. Smith to put into context what it meant to grace the cover of life magazine in the 19th there's nothing today. Think about that sometimes II can't think of anything today that is analogous to life magazine in 1945. There's nothing that has the cultural centrality. There's nothing that in one magazine in one photograph can make you a national icon but life magazine was like that and in life magazine had heard about him had heard about him coming back to Texas had heard about the ceremony that he had been through and they sent a photographer to do a photo essay in in the little town of Farmersville in Greenville where he lived.

But if you if you get that life magazine you open it up you look through it and you see see a photograph of him getting his hair cut with a bunch of farmers looking at item that, but this cover and it shows him fresh face looking like high school football quarterback in the military uniform. He's evidently young he looks, and I think this is important. He looks completely on guard by his path. He looks as freshfaced as if he was fresh out of high school and of course he's not unique. You can't tell at all by looking that this guy killed 250 soldiers. This guy was shot repeatedly. This guy was 50% disabled you, according to U.S. Army, and in this guys carrying around already carrying around some some terrible emotional baggage that's keeping him from sleeping at night, but there is on the cover of the line. One of Hollywood's biggest movie stars Audie Murphy on the cover of life magazine and pick up the phone. Here again is Joanne matter is a famous actor named Jimmy Cagney and Jimmy Cagney the press about Audie and said, hey, this guy should be in the movie that he invited buddy to come to Hollywood and try to be a movie star and Audie that lived with him for a while but I didn't really take off though and ended up sleeping in in a jam that a friend of his own than kinda bounced around a little bit but then in 1949 he wrote a book called Helen back and that was all about his experiences in the war and the book with a huge bestseller and kinda got Hollywood's attention again so he ended up making a few movies, mostly Western and he didn't care for Western like every movie.

We had the same lot that left movie dead and one of my favorite quotes. He said that in westerns the faces of the same and some of the dialogue.

Only the horses or change and what happened. I even doing these movies and kind of plugging along to Helen back with a huge bestseller and Universal Studios decided to make it into a movie and they wanted Audie to star as himself, and I said no. He said I don't want the public to think I'm trying to be famous by by saying look at me I'm a war hero but eventually he changed his mind because he felt that he could show how brave all the soldiers were who it fought with died and kinda do attribute them you the movie and he also wanted to make sure the movie was as realistic as possible and starring in it meant that he could happen say and know how to battles with days and the uniforms and how to how the actors came to soldiers doing it. The movie came out in 1955. It was a huge hit. It was actually Universal Studios highest earning movie until 1975 when the movie Jaws came out and it was the high point of Buddy's acting career.

He went on and it's a movies and television. After that, but that was really the high point. While all this is going on offscreen. It was very difficult for him.

Nowadays, we would understand that he had posttraumatic stress disorder from his time in battle. But during the 50s and 60s. That term didn't exist yet, and people weren't really aware of so Audie actually in the 60s. He started to speak out about how he felt that he had trouble sleeping. Every time he heard a loud noise. He would jump he slept with a gun under his pillow when he went out in public when he was driving down the road. He was constantly looking for danger in a looking for something to jump out at him and he said during the 60s when he was speaking out, he said to be trained to kill, and then come back into civilian life and be alone in a crowd. It takes an awful long time to get over it. But EDP try to help others through his experiences. Here's Audie's friend film director Bob Banneker Audie struggle with PTSD called me one day and he said I'm sitting here with my 45 the pictures in good shape. Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to blow my brains out and I had two seconds. I said that's really great, just what me as wanted to do what you mean. I said do it for every kid in the country who venture the greatest fellow who ever lived.

That will make everybody in the United States. Going forward, trigger, he said, you son of Audie's life clearly defined who he was and what he stood for his death was no different than anyone lying on a plane and the plane crash and killed 45 years old and because he was a war veteran and hero. He was buried at Arlington national seminary with full military honors and generally you are a medal of honor winner your gravestone at Arlington. The lettering is done in gold trim, likely very eye-catching and Audie didn't want that the plane gravestone and it just lists his name very plain very brief doesn't really get any of what a hero he was. And he's the second grade at Arlington cemetery.

The first one being president John Kennedy's grave the most popular Audie number two American using two time reduction from her autobiography Helen back. Here's how he concludes I was first aware of Murphy as a war hero was on the cover of life magazine when I was a youngster not long before his untimely death in an airplane accident. I was working in California when Audie Murphy came back into the news woman friend of his center dog to a trainer. She wasn't happy with the results. As I recall, he asked Audie to intervene. He visited the dog trainer who then complained to the police. Murphy had shot the local police brought Murphy in for questioning. When Murphy was released without charges.

A large number of reporters were outside the police station. Murphy agreed to take questions. One of the reporters asked Audie shoot at the Audie Murphy most decorated combat veteran of World War II, inherited his interrogator for a moment and then said in that familiar Texas voice. If I had you think I would've missed.

I love that moment, all that Audie Murphy for as a citizen soldier and hero, and great job on the Dragon again 250 confirmed kills one man humble beginnings, humble in birth and humble in death. This story here on our American stories