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U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Murphrey, 25, whose wife is from Cobbtown, gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country when he was killed in action on Saturday, September 5, while serving in Paktika province, Afghanistan.
Michael; his wife, Ashley Martin Murphrey; their son, four-year-old Jaden; and daughter, ten-month-old Cameron had moved to Cobbtown to be closer to Ashley’s parents, Danny and Lisa Martin.
Mike joined the Army in October 2003, served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and came to Fort Richardson in April 2008. The couple met while Mike was stationed at Fort Benning. When Mike deployed, Ashley brought Jaden and their infant daughter, Cameron, back from Anchorage to Tattnall County during the deployment.
Understandably, the family is in shock as they struggle to cope with the devastating loss.
“We knew from the news that someone had died on a mission. Ashley had a terrible feeling about it. They told us it was Mike at about nine p.m. Sunday night (September 6),” Lisa Martin said.
A Casualty Officer with the U.S. Army visited their home Sunday night and informed Ashley Murphrey that her husband, Sgt. Mike Murphrey, had been killed.
According to the family, Mike was killed as he stepped out of the vehicle in which he was riding, and stepped directly on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
“He felt this time he wasn’t coming home. He talked to us about it,” Lisa Martin explained. Even with his premonition, Mike returned to Afghanistan to serve his country. “That’s what makes him a hero,” Lisa said.
Mike was a Paratrooper assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Fort Richardson, Alaska. His unit is stationed at Forward Operating Base Sharana. He was deployed to Afghanistan in March 2009, and returned to Cobbtown in July for a two-week leave with his family.
“When he came home in July, he tried to do as much as he could with his family. And he told us he was scared to go back because he’d seen so much,” Lisa added. “He always told her, ‘I have to do what I have to do because I signed up for this.’”
Lisa said it will take time for her children to understand what their father did, but she wants everyone to know what kind of person he was in life and in death.
“In every sense of the word, he truly is a hero and always will be my hero,” Lisa said.
On Tuesday, September 8, Ashley met her brother, Nolan, in Savannah, before they boarded a plane together to fly to Delaware to meet Mike’s parents as his body was scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base.
Ashley, Nolan, and the Murphreys then traveled to Mike’s home town of Snyder, Texas, where his four sisters and their families met them, and where Mike was buried.
The Martins also traveled to Texas with Mike and Ashley’s two children to be with their family and to attend Mike’s funeral.
Before she left, Lisa commented that through it all, her family had been supported by the entire Cobbtown community, particularly their church family at Open Door Worship Center.
“We are so touched by the outpouring of support that everyone has shown us,” Lisa said.
Continued community support will be vital for the family as the next days, weeks, and months pass, particularly for Ashley and the children.
“We just need everyone to let her know that what he was doing over there was right,” Lisa Martin said.
In a Facebook posting, Lisa wrote, “We are not promised a tomorrow. Please hug your children tightly and tell them you love them every chance you get. I am trusting God to get our daughter through this and to help Mike’s family. We would not make it without faith!”
A Tattnall memorial service is being planned for a later date. More information will be printed in The Glennville Sentinel as it becomes available.
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