
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 14, 1995                   TAG: 9503140100
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HIS MEDALS CAME YEARS AFTER EARNED

Q: The caption of a picture last week of Lt. Col. Matt Urban's wife kissing his casket said he received 29 medals for bravery during World War II. I always thought Audie Murphy was the most-decorated soldier of WW II, and he had 28 medals. How did Col. Urban come to have 29?

H.M., Salem

A: For 35 years after the war and through 40 movies, Audie Murphy was the most-decorated fighting man of World War II.

In 1980, Urban received a chestful of medals for which he had been recommended, but had not received because of a bureaucratic shuffle at the end of the war.

Included were his seventh Purple Heart, the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star and the Legion of Merit.

During a ceremony in the Rose Garden in 1980, President Carter presented the Medal of Honor to Urban.

The ceremony didn't wipe out Murphy's image, though. Writers and journalists continue to refer to the old biographical information on Murphy and report that the sharecropper's son and war hero-turned-actor was the most-decorated soldier.

The Pentagon's response was not to take sides.

The Army doesn't officially acknowledge anyone as the most-decorated soldier because there are too many ways to look at the issue: Is the total number of awards most important, or should only the highest awards be considered? Or should the recognition go to those receiving the most awards for valor?

A public relations officer said the Army doesn't officially rank award winners.

No conflict

Q: Roanoke County supervisors were quoted in the paper last week as saying they would oppose efforts to keep county teacher salaries at the same level as Roanoke city salaries. I don't mind raises for teachers, but isn't it a conflict of interest for those supervisors whose wives work for the schools to suggest what the salaries should be?

V.P., Roanoke

A: The attorney general has said there's no conflict.

There are two layers of management - school superintendents and school boards - between teachers and members of boards of supervisors.

With that insulation, it's legal for supervisors to vote on a budget that includes salaries for their spouses.

Your question is asked by someone almost every year, but the issue was settled legally when May Johnson, a teacher at Cave Spring High School, served on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors from 1975 through 1983.

In 1980, an attorney general's opinion cleared the way for teacher/supervisors around the state to vote on school matters.

Several city councils and boards of supervisors have teachers as members, and they're eligible to vote on school budgets as long as they disclose their interests.

Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.

by CNB