b'By Bob Roloff,The Arizona DuuudeThis is a story about a sharecropper\'s son from the cotton fields of Texas who had dreams of a great military career. He met up with another boy who had dreams of being a major league ballplayer. They both worked together as grown men in two big western movies. Reflecting on this, one would call it an act of providence, God bringing them together.It was an honor for me to sit and listen as Michael Dante told me about his time spent with AudieCourtesy of Michael DanteMurphy. This is from an interview I had with Michael in Tombstone on September 3 and 4, 2021 while he was there as the guest of honor and ribbon cutter for the grand opening of Billy" Gray\'s Audie Murphy and Medal of HonorMuseum. You can read moreAudie Murphy, left, and Michael Danteabout the museum at AudieMurphyMuseum.com.I t was about ten years ago when we were first invited120, so hot we didn\'t dare go in the dressing room. Withfuture as an actor. He was just passing through when he to be the honored guest speaker at The Audie Murphythe air conditioning and then the heat, you would havesaw me rehearse a play in Miami at the Ring Theater. I had American Cotton Museum in Greenville, Texas. Wepneumonia in an hour. We sat there very quietly on themet him through my roommate Mickey McDermott, who pulled into a circular drive around a bigger-than-lifefirst day. In retrospect, I had this long pause of a momentplayed with the Red Sox and the Yankees. So I went with the monument of Audie Murphy manning a machine gun. Itin thinking when I first saw Audie Murphy on the screenflow and tested at MGM which Tommy arranged and MGM was six or seven feet off the ground and an impressive sightin a newsreel. He was a nineteen-year-old soldier who hadsigned me to a contract. With thirty films and one hundred at the museum entrance.just won the Medal of Honor. I\'ll never forget it. It was upand fifty rated TV shows, at age 90, and all these years later, on the newsreel in the theater in between the movie andI\'m still thinking about Audie and how our careers caught The museum is one story, with one half displaying his warthe serial. up with us. memorabilia and the other half his movie memorabilia. The first thing you see is a mannequin with his war memorabiliaI looked up along with three or four of my buddies andSo now I\'m sitting opposite of him, sitting in a chair with his medals of honor, so many medals that they werethere was our American hero. We all wanted to be like him.thinking that by divine guidance here I am co-starring with displayed on both sides of the jacket down to the waist.God, what he accomplished. When we played cops andAudie Murphy who was our hero when we were growing There were so many medals that he had to turn some ofrobbers, we had a hero. He fast became one of our heroes.up. And I had to pinch myself; this is just a spiritual them down because he couldn\'t fit in all the requests for hisSo now I\'m sitting there, here I am co-starring with him inmoment that I will never forget. I looked over at Audie who appearances. It was quite extraordinary.the first one, Apache Rifles. I looked over and very quietlywas kind of relaxed. At that moment he looked at me, and thought about all of those years as a boy that I\'d looked upthen we both looked away. Whatever his thoughts were, it I did two films with Audie, Apache Rifles in 1964 andto him. Then he became an actor and was immediately onehad been quite a journey.Arizona Raiders in 1965. William Whitney was the directorof my favorites. He was a hero on and off the screen. This is of Apache Rifles; then he cast me in Arizona Raiders in 1965God-sent, divine guidance in my career. When the PR photographer came by and wanted to take a in an entirely different role, playing a bad guy. Having donepicture of us (we were so hot) we got up. The photographer two films with Audie back-to-back, they were all aware ofI was a professional baseball player with the Washingtonsaid, Come on guys smile. Audie responded, You want us my career and asked my wife Mary-Jane and me to be theirSenators and trained with them in 1955. So, I did achieveto smile while we\'re roasting to death? We both submitted honored guest this year. It was the 25th anniversary of themy dream but that was cut short due to a bad shoulder.to a little laughter. Audie just slid his hand down on my museum.They had so many loyal Americans, who wereTommy Dorsey arranged a screen test for me at MGMpistol and applied pressure. Thats how we got the smile in there being much more than just fans. The atmospherebecause he thought I had a greatthe picture.was so strong it was like family, a very spiritual uplifting experience. So, it was a ten-year spreadSo, I\'m here today in Tombstone for the grand opening since we had seen the inside of the museum inof The Audie Murphy and Medal of Honor Museum 2011. There were many additions and by William Billy" Gray. He has just a phenomenal new experiences. collection of Audie Murphy memorabilia in his museum. It\'s an honor to be here and to cut the ribbon. Then they ran the Arizona Raiders movie, followed by a Q & A with a large audience. ItWhat a gift it is to be given life and to be born healthy, is said that Arizona Raiders was played moreboth mentally and physically, and to be blessed than The Godfather. We had some wonderfulwith great parents and born in America. The clarity questions. Most of the questions were about myin which I appreciate the above has allowed me to relationship with Audie on location. You knowembrace life, as well as to accept the responsibility to there arent many of us left that worked withgrow as a human being every day. I always knew that Audie in the 1960s.whatever gifts the good Lord gave me I would develop through hard work and dedication, which would Duuude, there was one moment in my lifeallow me to leave something of value behind after my that was so strong and memorable, somethingdays on earth are gone. I think about so many times. We were sitting under a canopy in the desert. It was about 117 orMichaelDanteWay.com16 October 2021'