John Joseph Murphy Jr. was born on January 7, 1916, in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. He was the son of John Joseph Murphy and Josephine L. Lesley Murphy. He attended St. Patrick’s Parochial School and graduated from Central High School in 1933. He applied for admission to West Point, but after being named second alternate, he enrolled instead at Purdue University in September 1933 to study aeronautical engineering. While at Purdue, he discovered a deep enthusiasm for the Field Artillery, joined the Zouave Drill Squad, and earned distinction through advanced military training, becoming a member of both the Purdue Order of Military Merit and Scabbard and Blade. After a second opportunity arose for an appointment to West Point, John Joseph Murphy, Jr. reapplied and was selected as first alternate. In June 1936, just as he was preparing for summer ROTC training at Fort Knox, he received orders to report to the U.S. Military Academy, where he joined Company M.

After graduating from West Point in 1940, John was stationed in the Philippines, where he volunteered for service with the Philippine Army in September 1941. Initially assigned to the 61st Field Artillery on Panay, he later transferred to the 81st Field Artillery on Mindanao, commanding a battery until falling ill with malaria. Following the fall of Mindanao, Murphy was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned at Malaybalay, later transferred to the Davao Penal Colony, where he endured forced labor in the rice fields. Despite captivity, he remained spirited, famously joining fellow officers in a secret Independence Day celebration on July 4, 1942.

In August 1944, he was among hundreds of POWs placed aboard a Japanese transport ship bound for Japan. On September 7, 1944, off the west coast of Mindanao, the convoy was attacked by American submarines. Murphy escaped the sinking ship but disappeared before reaching shore; his body was never recovered. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org