Lieutenant General John Richard Murphy was chief of staff, United Nations Command, and Chief of Staff, U.S. Forces Korea, with headquarters in Seoul, Korea at the time of his retirement from active USAF duty in September 1975.

General Murphy was born in Minot, N.D., in 1918. He graduated from high school in Fargo, N.D., in 1936, and attended North Dakota State University and Notre Dame prior to entering the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1938. General Murphy graduated from the academy in 1942 with a commission as second lieutenant and immediately started flight training.

During World War II, General Murphy served with the Ninth Air Force in the European Theater of Operations as pilot; commander, 388th Squadron; deputy commander, 365th Group; and commander, 404th Fighter Group. He flew 139 missions with a total of 305 combat hours in the P-47 aircraft.

After World War II in November 1945, he was assigned intelligence duties at Headquarters Army Air Forces, Washington, D.C. He attended the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., during 1947-1948, and then assumed command of the 27th Fighter Squadron, March Air Force Base, Calif., where he flew the new F-80 jet fighter aircraft.

In March 1949 he went to Japan and was assigned to the 49th Fighter Wing as operations officer and in June 1949 became commander, 49th Fighter Group, at Misawa Air Base. In January 1950 he was transferred to Headquarters Fifth Air Force as assistant director of operations and in February 1950 became Director of Operations.

In July 1950 he went to Korea where, after becoming ‘stranded’ by the North Korean’s strafing destruction of their C-54 transport at Kimpo airfield (K-13), joined the Army forces retreating to the South, when he acquired a radio jeep and proceeded to act as an early Tactical Air Control unit during the losing battle for Taejon.He then served as the first director of the Joint Operations Center and helped organize the formal Tactical Air Control System for the Korean War at Taegu (K-2), South Korea. He later served as executive officer of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing and flew 30 combat missions in the F-51 fighter aircraft, most of which were flown in the ‘Shark-mouth’ Mustangs of the12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron.On several of those close support, ground attack missions he flew -- by preference, as wingman to then-1st Lieut. ‘Bud’ Biteman, who he claimed ‘took the best evasive action, of any of the 12th pilots, which prevented the enemy anti-aircraft gunners from taking a ‘bead’ on their attacking aircraft.

He was later reassigned, again, as commander of the 49th Fighter Group and led the group on 89 additional combat missions in F-80 jet aircraft. He finished his tour of Korean War duty with another assignment as director of the Joint Operations Center for Fifth Air Force.

General Murphy returned to the United States in September 1951 and was assigned to a training command at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., where he flew the F-51 and all versions of the F-84 aircraft. In July 1952 he became commander, 3555th Combat Crew Training Group, Perrin Air Force Base, Texas, which trained all-weather Interceptor pilots in the new F-86D “Sabre-Dawg” for Air Defense Command.

In August 1954 he went to Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, where he served as director, Combat Crew Training for Air Training Command until 1 Nov.’54, when he returned to Korea to command the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group during it’s extended move to Kadena AFB, Okinawa, after which he assumed brief command of the 18th Fighter Wing, until 4 Feb. 1955, before returning again to the U.S. He went to O'Hare Field, Chicago, Ill., in January 1956, to command the Air Defense Command’s 56th Fighter-Interceptor Group. In July 1957 he returned to the Fifth Air Force in Japan as director of operations.

In August 1960 General Murphy was assigned to Headquarters Air Defense Command at Ent Air Force Base, Colo., as director of systems integration and programs. In August 1962 he entered the National War College, Washington, D.C. He next went to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., where he assumed command of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing in September 1963. When the 833d Air Division was authorized in 1964, consisting of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, and the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, General Murphy was given the task of organizing and commanding the newly formed air division.

He went to Thailand in May 1965 where he served as deputy commander, 2d Air Division, Thirteenth Air Force, at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. From January through July 1966, he was assistant deputy commander, Seventh Air Force/Thirteenth Air Force, Thailand.

In August 1966 General Murphy was appointed deputy director, Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C., and in August 1968 became director. He was assigned as vice commander of Air Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in July 1970.

In November 1972 he was assigned as vice commander, Fifth Air Force, Fuchu Air Station, Japan. General Murphy assumed duties as chief of staff, United Nations Command/United States Forces Korea, in October 1973.

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with 38 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem with three oak leaf clusters, Croix de Guerre (France), Belgian Fourragere, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

A command pilot, rated parachutist, and combat fighter pilot in three major wars, he retired September 1, 1975, to San Antonio, TX, where he died four years later on January 13, 2000.