'I Wanted to Get in the Fight'

At 34 years old, Spc. Hugh Murray Jr. was one of the older soldiers in basic training when he joined the Army in 2009. That didn’t stop him from taking an active role, deploying to Afghanistan and being sent to hot spots with a Scout Platoon. After redeploying home, he stopped by a Willistown Board of Supervisors meeting to thank the community for its support. After the meeting, he spoke with Malvern Patch about what made him sign up, where he was when he heard the news about Osama bin Laden, and how hard it is to get a good pizza in an Army mess hall.

How long were you deployed?

11 months, literally a week shy of 12 months. This was my first deployment.

When did you decide to enter the military?

I looked at the Air Force almost right out of high school, but it didn’t really jump out at me. When I was in my 20s, Navy SEALS were a big thing. So I always followed those guys and became good friends with the family of Danny Dietz, one of the fallen SEALS from [Operation Red Wing in 2005]. I went out to the bronze statue dedication for him on July 4, 2007, in Littleton, Colo. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

How did you decide on the 101st Airborne?

It’s luck. I chose the Army because I wanted to get into the fight. I thought at 34 years old, when I was going in, I still had the physical capabilities, and probably a greater attribute would have been mental. I know what the game is with the drill sergeants and all that kind of stuff.  I wanted to be a trigger-puller for the first deployment. Marine Corps works for those young hooahs, and that was a little bit past me there. So I went with Army, and after that it was pure luck. 

About 15 of us ended up going from basic training to the 101st. I couldn’t have asked for a more historic division. Everything really fell in place for me.

What was your role in Afghanistan?

I went over as a Scout Platoon RTO, which is Radio Telephone Operator. Scout Platoon is what I refer to as the “poor man’s special forces” for a battalion. They consist of a six-man recon team and a three-man sniper element. So the nine of us would get attached to a company or get sent out as a platoon into trouble spots. We were Johnny on the Spot, basically, and my job was communications for my team.

Then, as luck would have it, one of the guys at headquarters went on leave, and they needed an RTO. So, for the second half, I got to go up there. My First Sergeant, also a Philly boy, said, “Guess what, you’re not leaving. The Scouts aren’t getting you back.” So for the second half, I was in the headquarters platoon, running the radio for headquarters for the battalion.

What comes next?

This is my 30-day leave, then back to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Good old Fort Campbell.

I have two more years to fulfill on my current contract. I’m looking to get into military intelligence. A lot of people come out and get into law enforcement, but that’s just not the avenue I’m looking for.

I can use the new GI bill now with online classes, Phoenix University for example. It’s nice working with the commanding officer. It’s a little bit of a mixed blessing there … I wanted to be out there with the rock stars and with the Scouts, but at the same time, getting into headquarters really probably just set me up for the next couple years.

You’re getting married this year. How did you meet your fiancée?

She was born in Ireland and was working over here for a while. My friend owns a bar, Maggie O’Neill’s in Drexel Hill; she was a waitress down there. He said, "Hey, c’mon in here. You’ve got to hear this girl talk."

Where’s your fiancée now?

Nottingham, England. She was born in Donegal, moved to Nottingham when she was 3. As Irish as it gets, but she sounds like the Queen Mum, so she’s a walking contradiction of herself. So she’s over there now, and I’m about to go see her, as a matter of fact. We’re about to go spend a week in Cornwall, lie on the beach in St. Ive’s.

What was the first thing you wanted to do when you got back?

Pizza. Eat pizza. Just food. The cooks do a hell of a job over there, but it’s impossible to replicate pizza. Those guys can hook up a chicken dinner and all that kind of stuff, [but not pizza].

We left Afghanistan and we go to an Air Force base in Kyrgyzstan, and from Kyrgyzstan we had a stop-off in Shannon, Ireland. So we land in Ireland, [the lieutenant colonel] says, in this Boston-Irish accent, “Hey listen, guys. You can’t buy anything at duty free. But I’ll tell you what, you guys can all get two beers.” We all cheered. So I actually got to have my first beer in Ireland: two pints of Guinness. It was phenomenal. 

That would have been my first thing, when I got home, to say “beer.” But you can’t beat getting two Guinnesses in Ireland, right?

Where do you go for pizza around here?

I used to live in Devon and went to a place called Luigi’s. I used to order my own special thing. I wanted to get them to name it after me, actually. And Bravo Pizza’s been doing fantastic for us.

Where were you when you heard that Osama bin Laden had been killed?

We got home the night of April 28. Oddly enough, I was in my barracks. I was on the computer for a little bit, but your body is trying to catch up to the new time zone, so I had fallen asleep at 8 o’clock [or] 9 o’clock. Wide awake at 3 o’clock—boom!—like it’s 10 o’clock in the morning. My phone is beeping and ringing, and I see a text message from Ginny and a text message from my sister, and they’re both kind of cryptic. “Hey, are you guys celebrating?” and “Way to go Soldier,” and all this kind of stuff. 

And I jumped online, and I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe. And then they said who got him, and I said, “Now, I can believe it. That makes sense.”