Alva Cochran Murphy was born on January 26, 1918, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He attended U-T Knoxville High and Valley Forge Military Academy, PA. He volunteered before Pearl Harbor and served lengthily as an instructor at Texas airfields before going overseas.

Murphy served in the 364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group as a Major during World War II. He was the pilot of the aircraft P-51D-20 with serial number 44-63765. He was on a ramrod mission to Ruhland, Germany when his plane crashed near Grosbzig. Major Murphy is buried now in the Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg. He also has a cenotaph located in Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee. Murphy was an ace with six aerial victories, including two on the day he was killed.

Statement from 1st Lt Howard Westling, Air Corps, Pilot:
I was flying Greenhouse Red Two, wingman of Captain Murphy. Southeast of Magdeburg we spotted a ME-109 in the clouds. Captain Murphy got strikes and the 109 went in. About five minutes later we saw another 109 below the clouds. After about two turns Captain Murphy got strikes on the 109 and it burst into flames and crashed. After a few minutes we spotted an airfield. Captain Murphy and I went down. Captain Murphy was hit by flak and bailed out about 10 minutes later. I saw his chute open and he landed in a field. He bailed out approximately 30 miles southwest of Magdeburg at 1010. This occurred on 2 March 1945, under order 1683A, VIII Air Force.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, etvma.org