An excerpt from my essay To Hell and Back:

Audie’s division was to hold their ground outside of Höltzwihr with the aid of two tank destroyers. They were in France near the Colmar Canal; this general operation of U.S. forces retaking the area was known as the U.S. Colmar Campaign. While entrenched, the 3rd Infantry Division was attacked by six German tanks and almost 250 German soldiers. Audie, carrying a field telephone, told his men to retreat into the woods while he covered their retreat. He called in artillery strikes constantly to disorient the enemy while he shot at them with his rifle. When he was nearly out of ammunition, Audie glanced at one of the abandoned tank destroyers that remained in the field; the machine gun still looked to be functioning.

He hurried over to it to make good use of its .50 caliber machine gun. Audie mounted himself on the gun and opened fire on the German troops advancing. Luckily, the smoke of the burning tank destroyer offered enough cover to conceal him as he shot and called in artillery for nearly an hour. After his hour-long stand, the German soldiers retreated and the tanks along with them; he killed over fifty Germans in this one battle. For his courageous actions which risked his life beyond the call of duty, Audie Murphy was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor….