## The Hospital Named for Him
The Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Affairs Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, was named for him in 1973, two years after his death.
San Antonio is the natural geographic home for such a naming: it is the Texas city with the largest military installation complex in the United States, the home of Fort Sam Houston (now Joint Base San Antonio), and historically the center of the Texas military community that Murphy was part of.
The VA hospital naming reflects the specific context of Murphy’s advocacy. He had used his public standing to argue for better government support for veterans’ medical and psychological needs. Naming a VA hospital for him was an institutional acknowledgment of that advocacy, a recognition that the facility was doing the work he had pushed the government to do.
The hospital serves veterans from throughout the South Texas region. By the time of its naming, it had already been serving veterans for decades under other names; the renaming was specifically in honor of Murphy’s advocacy and his service record. The connection between the man who climbed onto the burning M10 and the facility that treats veterans’ physical and psychological wounds is the specific connection Murphy himself drew throughout the later years of his life.
## The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor
The Texas Legislature authorized a Texas Medal of Honor for Murphy on August 18, 2013, with a formal presentation on October 29, 2013. This is a state-level military honor distinct from the federal Medal of Honor, and it was specifically authorized for Murphy posthumously as a recognition of his status as a Texan and of his service record.