Army , including the Medal of Honor . He also received French and Belgian awards for heroism .
From his humble , hardscrabble childhood years ( he dropped out of school in the fifth-grade to help feed his family ) Murphy would gain worldwide recognition for bravery and the adulation of a grateful nation .
Today his name remains the primary draw for the thousands who visit the museum each year . Pre-COVID-19 , the museum had attracted about 9,000 visitors a year , according to museum director Susan Lanning .
“ Probably 60 to 70 % come because of Audie ’ s name , and the rest actually because of cotton history ,” says Lanning .
Still , the vast collection that commemorates the life of Murphy is only one element of the museum . Also featured are people like Claire Lee Chennault , an aviator who commanded the famous “ Flying Tigers ,” a force of American volunteers and later U . S . Army Air Corp units who fought to drive the Japanese out of China during the 1930s and 1940s .
Known during the war years as “ Old Leather Face ,” Chennault was born in Commerce , where a marker erected in 2015 memorializes him – the only Texas historical marker inscribed in Mandarin Chinese . It stands apart from among more than 16,000 state markers worded in only English or Spanish , according to the Texas Historical Commission .
“ He ’ s still a huge hero to the Chinese people ,” notes Lanning .
Then there ’ s an exhibit area devoted to baseball great Monty Stratton , who spent much of his life in Greenville and died here in 1982 .
During the late 1930s , Stratton threw for the Chicago White Sox and was among the most dominant pitchers in the Major Leagues . His stardom on the mound , however , abruptly ended in November 1938 after he accidentally shot himself while hunting rabbits . His right leg had to be amputated and he was fit with a wooden prosthetic . For the next two years , Stratton worked for
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