The Salem Museum will present a special panel talk in memory of veteran, actor, and businessman Audie Murphy, the most decorated enlisted soldier of the Second World War, who lost his life in a Roanoke County plane crash in 1971. The event will be free and open to the public.

On Thursday, November 12, 2026 at 7 p.m. following the Salem Museum’s Annual Member Reception, the Museum will host a “Remembering Audie Murphy” panel discussion of Murphy’s life and career, as well as honor those first responders to the crash site 55 years ago this year. Among the panelists are Captain Lee Anthony, US Navy (retired), and Colonel Charles Glass, US Air Force (retired), who will share their recollections about the crash and the recovery efforts made by the Civil Air Patrol and others on those dark days in Roanoke Valley history.

To make possible this event, the Salem Museum is partnering with the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club, Roanoke College and the College’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), the Fort Lewis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Roanoke Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

For more information on the event and other general Museum-happenings, call 540-389-6760 or visit SalemMuseum.org.