She took the only pictures as he was honored
Chapter One
“When are we going to get some more donuts?” asked Audie Murphy of the photographer after he received the highest of all military honors, the Congressional Medal of Honor, in the field in Salzburg, Germany.
It was 1945 and the photographer was my mother, Florence Wick. She had been serving as a Red Cross “donut girl” with the Third Infantry Division in the Europe. She had met Murphy and served him donuts somewhere in France.
That photograph was the only one taken of Murphy at the awards ceremony and it was published worldwide and used to recreate the scene for the movie of his life story, “To Hell and Back.”
1955 Flo and Audie reconnected on the movie set of To Hell and Back. Photo by Rollie Lane. The photo at top is the one taken by Flo at the awards ceremony in Salzburg in 1945.
The most decorated soldier of WWII, Audie would cross paths with Flo again ten years later when he came to our hometown of Yakima, Washington to film the movie. There at the Yakima Firing Center the two of them looked through the scrapbook Flo had compiled of her adventures and heartbreaks in the European theater.
Now I have that scrapbook. It’s gigantic and weighs 25 pounds. I have wanted to use its contents to tell my mother’s story, but the project is overwhelming. Maybe I can start with Audie.
Audie Murphy was known worldwide after the war. He had a huge fan club and maybe still does (he died in 1971). One of his fans recently got in touch with me and asked if I could supply more stories and pictures. Yes! Flo stayed in touch with Audie. She corresponded with his biographer, his associates and those putting together a memorial in Texas. She saved mementos and newspaper clippings.
As for her photo that became famous, she gave it freely and others took credit. A post-war letter she saved warns that others are charging for the use of her photo. She never received credit.
Chapter 2: https://mollymartin.blog/2024/12/31/a-photo-album-tells-the-story/
tradeswomn musings 
Very groovy and cool!
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Thanks Gary. Sending you hugs and kisses from me and Holly.
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I’m not surprised she never received credit, generally speaking. She got the credit from whom it mattered, though! Nanny Dokken (Wick) spoke of her. God bless Aunt Flo. Wish I had known her. ❤️🥰
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Thanks Cuz. Miss her every day.
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I know you do. Somewhere I have a card your mom sent Nanny with a photo of the town in Norway where Great Uncle Ben and Grampa Wick grew up (my mind is full of holes and amazingly I forgot the name). The note says she was there with Molly (that’s you, hahaha). I will send to you if you’d like it. 🥰
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Yes, Flo and I traveled to Norway and Sweden in 1979. Grandpa Wick’s hometown is Borsa (I think there’s an umlaut in there). We were shown around by the local minister who introduced us to the town historian, a 90-year-old woman. She remembered Ben (Bernt) from before he left for the U.S.! Another story that needs telling!
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Dear Molly,
What a wonderful story and to know that your Mom was so talented. What an honor for her to take Murphy’s photo and to continue to be friendly with him over the years. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Love, Minerva
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This is so great, Molly!” Gre
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Thanks so much for posting this Molly! The photos are both amazing. Loved reading Audie’s comment to your Mom – “When are we going to get some more donuts?” in 1945. I’m really happy to hear that they stayed in touch over the years and became friends.
When I had previously looked up the 1955 newspaper articles about your Mom meeting up with Audie and giving him the photo, the papers didn’t mention her name, only referring to her as – ‘a Red Cross doughnut girl’.
I always wondered who the donut/doughnut girl was, and thanks to you and your blog, it’s great to know her name and see her face.
Typical that your Mom didn’t get any credit for the photo. But she did from Audie, none of the others could say that. 🙂
Looking for ward to reading more.
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