Lt. Col. David John Murray
Army, 1964-1984
“Grandpa Dave” (Mom’s dad)
Grandpa Dave enlisted in the Army right out of college, intending to make a career of it. His first appointment was as an Infantry Officer. He went to jump school with the 82nd Airborne Division in 1965. His first tour in Vietnam was May 1966-May 1967, and he served with the United States Military Assistance Command, working with the Vietnamese. He came back to work at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. His second tour of duty in Vietnam was October 1968 (when Aunt Minda was 7 months old) through October 1969. This tour involved combat, and he was wounded on February 5, 1969. He returned to action after his recovery.
His military career after the war included posts in Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Ord, California; attending the Naval War College in Rhode Island; Fort Shafter, Hawaii; and Boone, Iowa. At Fort Ord, he was the S-4 for the 1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, working to reactivate an infantry brigade. He served as the Operations Officer in Hawaii, supervising the Command Operations Center, and he also worked as the Chief, Command and Control Division. In Iowa, he was the advisor to the 34th Infantry Brigade for the Iowa Army National Guard. He served his final post at Fort Hood, Texas, working as the chief of overseas exercises for III Corps. These exercises included his development of Operation Reforger, where 17,000 soldiers were deployed and trained in Germany. During his remarkable career in the Army, he received numerous medals and commendations, including multiple Bronze star medals, the Army Commendation medal, the Purple Heart, and two Meritorious Service Medals.
Sergeant Clark “Papa” (Dad’s dad)
Marines, 1972-1975
Papa joined the Marines after your Daddy was born. He attended boot camp at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, and went to Military Police (MP) school in Augusta Georgia. From there, he was stationed at El Toro Marine Base in Irvine, California, where he went from being an MP to Criminal Investigation Division (CID). He then transferred to Washington D.C. where he did many things including presidential security and Naval Intelligence. During this time, he went many times with President Richard Nixon's detail who would land at El Toro in route to San Clemente (his haven toward the end of his presidency).
He was honored as Marine of the Month while stationed at El Toro and was one of the fastest promoted Marines outside of war times. They wanted him to stay in the Marine Corps, but he was ready to go back to Dallas and begin his career outside of the military.
PFC Henry “Bois” Anthony 
Army, during World War II, 1941-1945
“Papaw” (Your great-grandpa)
Papaw served during World War II. He left for Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on his way to North Africa in April 1943. They landed in Algeria, and trained there until they left in early September for Sicily for a very short layover. They then went on to Salerno, Italy for an almost fatal invasion in which the biggest part of the whole 36th infantry division was destroyed by the Germans who knew ahead of time all about their plans. They did get reinforcements (finally) and went on to free Rome after several months. Incidentally, they were the first American Unit to invade Continental Europe and the first Unit to enter Rome.
After Rome, they went by sea to Anzio, Italy, for another invasion, which was also very costly. After returning to Rome and seeing Italy become more secure, they made another invasion in Southern France at Marseilles. They went across France (Adennes-Alsace campaign) and Germany where the war ended in April 1945. He stayed in Germany to help clean up until he was finally sent home by plane through Brazil. He arrived in Dallas on VJ Day in August 1945. Papaw began the war in Company H, and ended it in Service Company, 142nd Regiment, of the 36th Infantry Division.
Ernest “Ernie” Newell Prichard
Navy, during World War II
“Poppy” (Your great-grandpa)
Poppy spent most of his wartime tour in the Pacific aboard the USS Cross (DE-448), a Butler-class Destroyer Escort with a crew of about 200. He really struggled with motion sickness, which isn’t good for a sailor. Mimi remembers that her dad was with the 
Captain in the area of the ship, as he was a stenographer and took dictation and could type, which was rare for men back then. In one battle, when his ship was attacked, he was thrown against the bulkhead and retained an injury. He wrote long letters to his unborn child (Mimi), who he was always sure was a girl. He gave Mimi her name (Sandra), almost from the day he and Granny knew they were expecting their first born. Granny was 6 weeks pregnant when he left for the war, and Mimi was 9 months old when he returned.
He was in the service a while, before he went overseas, perhaps serving for 3-4 years total. Another family legend is that Poppy’s ship was hit by a kamikaze pilot while serving in the Pacific. This has not yet been verified, but the Navy recorded that the ship needed repairs in Okinawa.
2nd Lt. "Uncle" John (Dad’s godbrother)
Staff Sergeant, Army 1999-2004 
SSgt – 2nd Lt., Air Force 2004-present
After college, Uncle John decided to enlist in the Army. After basic training, he was selected to serve in the prestigious Old Guard in Washington, D.C. The Old Guard is the Third U.S. Infantry assigned to escort the President of the United States, and one of Uncle John’s first assignments was the Inauguration of President George W. Bush. While in the Old Guard, John also worked in the recovery effort at the Pentagon after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Uncle John went to Army Leadership School, and was stationed in the Military District of Washington D.C. He was the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCOIC), Special Projects, acting as liaison between the military and many different government agencies and diplomatic missions.
During his second enlistment, Uncle John wanted to move to Dallas, and thus joined the Air Force Reserve in 2004 and is now a 2nd Lieutenant.
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