Shortly after John Andrew Murphy was born on Jul 20, 1934 in New York City, he moved to Ireland to live with his grandparents. Until the age of thirteen John lived in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, where he applied himself at school, learned Gaelic, and enjoyed hurling.
In 1947, John returned to NYC to live with his Uncle Andy & Aunt Madilin Foran. The Scully twins, Barbara & Mary, lived next door. John took Mary to a movie but discovered that Mary had already seen it. Mary suggested that John take Barbara instead. That became the genesis of a lifelong relationship. In 1952 John graduated from Power Memorial Academy High School, founded in 1931 by the Irish Christian Brothers who were invited to the U.S. by Monsignor Power. John’s high school yearbook noted that he aspired to become a professional soldier.
Following his admission to West Point, one of John’s first roommates recalls that he was difficult to understand due to his pronounced Irish accent. During his second and third years, John served as an acolyte at the Catholic Chapel. In his senior year he was a member of the Newman Club. John’s devotion to his faith and strong desire to always do the right thing caused this same roommate not to be surprised to learn John had considered becoming a priest.
John told his family that he had been his company’s hands-down leader in walking penalty tours. Yet he always considered that his greatest claim to cadet fame was earning the privilege to wear three stars on his bathrobe signifying his triple successes in passing stiff reexaminations in academic courses he had failed. During the 1956 Christmas holidays, John became engaged to Barbara Scully outside the West Point Catholic Chapel. They were married in this same chapel on Jun 8, 1957.
After graduation, John was commissioned into the Artillery and attended the Basic Officers Course at Ft. Bliss, TX. His first assignment was to a Nike battalion in Massachusetts. Tony Doughney, who married Barbara Murphy’s twin sister, tells of a visit with John:
“An important general inspection was scheduled for his Nike site at a time when the battery commander was elsewhere. The duty to prepare the site was given to John. He was told to get the grass cut and in shipshape for the inspection.
“John went to the support depot looking for power mowers to accomplish his mission. He was informed none were available, but there were hand mowers he could requisition. John responded with a dissertation on the waste of highly trained manpower in using hand mowers. On his way back to his Nike site, John observed sheep grazing in a fi eld. The proverbial light bulb lit up in John’s head. John obtained the use of the sheep, loosed them on the Nike site and the rest is history. He became known as the ‘Nike Site Shepherd.’ As was so often the case with John, he received a well done accolade along with a ‘don’t ever do that again’ admonition.”
John and Barbara’s first child, John Jr., was born in Massachusetts on Mar 14, 1958. “Baby John” lived only two years before succumbing to pneumonia. Their second child, Erin, was born in Texas on Feb 10, 1961. She is married to Joseph Oniskey. They have a daughter, Murphy, who is named in honor of her grandfather. Their third child, Shannon, was born on Jul 3, 1963, in NYC. She is married to Michael Saldi and they have two children, Sara and Michael.
John became an Army helicopter pilot and in 1962 served with the 93rd Helicopter Company in Vietnam, earning two Air Medals. Later, John was sent to Germany. In 1967 he was assigned to the Combat Development Command. In 1968 he was given a medical retirement as a major due to Multiple Scoliosis. Subsequently this turned out to be a misdiagnosis.
John’s brother-in-law Tony describes the events following John’s retirement as follows:
“After John’s retirement he applied for a position with my corporation, IBM. John achieved one of the highest entrance test scores ever at IBM. The IBM executives, and its executive training staff, were thrilled to have such an outstanding applicant until he wrote to the Chairman of the Board of Directors turning in the entire executive training class for “cheating.” Moreover, John stated he would have nothing to do with any corporation that tolerated that type of behavior, and immediately resigned."
“His phone call to me that day went something like this: 'Tony, did I put you in a bad position? Will they take it out on you?' I assured him that IBM would consider the case closed and I could continue to work there provided I would never again submit names for a job at IBM. John laughed and went to work for our main competitor, Control Data Corporation.”
John served as an analyst for Control Data until 1978, when he was hired by Computer Science Corporation. He worked there until his death in 1980.
John died unexpectedly from a heart attack. He had been to see his doctor complaining of chest pains. These were misdiagnosed as acid reflux. He passed away in his sleep that night on Jun 4, 1980, exactly 23 years to the day since his graduation from USMA. A Mass of Christian burial was held on June 7 at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Doylestown. On June 10 John’s remains were buried in the West Point Cemetery, next to the memorial and grave of George Armstrong Custer, USMA Class of June 1861.
— Tom Adcock, classmate, with in valuable help from Tony Doughney, his brother-in-law