Top enlisted Marine takes a swipe at Audie Murphy’s uniform regs

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz learned a lesson the hard way: Never put “Baby” in a corner.

In a now-deleted Instagram post this week, Ruiz can be seen pointing toward a photo of a U.S. soldier with a myriad of medals strewn across his chest and arms.

“Uniform standards have entered the group chat!” Ruiz wrote in the post. “Exhibit A: This is what it looks like when we don’t have a standard. Make sure to check out MCO 1020.34H for all uniform guidance!”

Ruiz blurred out the soldier’s face, but it took users mere seconds to clock that the photo Ruiz was referring to was of Audie Murphy — nicknamed “Baby” — the single-most decorated American combat soldier of WWII and one of the most decorated American service members of all time.

In the photo, Murphy is wearing his awards in the correct order of precedence. The rack holder for medals was not produced until after WWII.

In response to the post, Ruiz faced a sea of roasters on Army and Marine Reddit pages alike.

“Love how he blurred out the face as if it’s not an iconic picture,” one user wrote on r/army.

“Out of all pictures on God’s green earth why would he use that picture[?]” another commented.

Ruiz quickly deleted his post and issued an apology, stating, “Earlier today I posted a picture of a great American hero, Audie Murphy. In poor taste, I linked his uniform to today’s regulations. My sincere apologies, as I meant no disrespect. There is a history linked to that photo and why his decorations are where they are. It shouldn’t have happened and there are no excuses.”

A spokesperson for the Marine Corps told Military Times they backed Ruiz’s apology. The service told Task and Purpose the post was an “unforced error where the message being sent should have used a Marine as an example,” and there was no intent to “disparage a great American soldier.”