The One Loss That Turned Into America’s Deadliest Rampage

"Lattie, keep down!" Staff Sergeant Audie Murphy's desperate cry was swallowed by the German hillside, too late.

A sniper's bullet had already found its mark.

For three agonizing seconds, Murphy stared at Tipton, rage crystallizing in his veins.

He seized a German machine gun and rose from cover, a magnet for every enemy bullet. In a trance, he walked upward into the fortified summit of Pillbox Hill.

His comrades begged him to take cover, but something had snapped deep inside the young sergeant from Texas.

The Germans were about to learn what happened when you killed Audie Murphy's best friend.