Hal Moore
Harold Gregory Moore Jr. (February 13, 1922 – February 10, 2017) was a United States Army lieutenant general and author. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second-highest decoration for valor, and was the first of his West Point class (1945) to be promoted to brigadier general, major general, and lieutenant general.
For the American Olympic wrestler, see Hal Moore (wrestler).
Harold Gregory Moore Jr.
"Hal", "Yellow Hair"
February 13, 1922
Bardstown, Kentucky, U.S.
February 10, 2017 (aged 94)
Auburn, Alabama, U.S.
United States
1945–1977
Army Military Personnel Center
Fort Ord Army Training Center
7th Infantry Division
3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment
2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment
5 children, 12 grandchildren
We Were Soldiers Once… And Young
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam[2]
Executive Vice-President of the Crested Butte Ski Area, Colorado
Moore is remembered as the lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War. The battle was detailed in the 1992 bestseller We Were Soldiers Once… and Young, co-authored by Moore and made into the film We Were Soldiers in 2002, which starred Mel Gibson as Moore; Moore was the "honorary colonel" of the regiment.
Moore was awarded the Order of Saint Maurice by the National Infantry Association[3] as well as the Distinguished Graduate Award by the West Point Association of Graduates.[4]
Early life and education[edit]
Moore was born on February 13, 1922, in Bardstown, Kentucky, the eldest of four children born to Harold Sr. and Mary (Crume) Moore. His father was an insurance agent of whose territory covered western Kentucky and his mother was a homemaker.[5] Because he was interested in obtaining an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and felt his chances were better if he was located in a larger city, he left Kentucky at the age of seventeen before finishing high school and got a job in Washington, D.C. working in the U.S. Senate book warehouse.[6] Moore finished high school at night while working days and graduated from St. Joseph Preparatory School in Bardstown with the class of 1940.[7] Moore attended George Washington University at night for two years, working at his warehouse job while waiting on an appointment to West Point.[4] During his time at George Washington University he was initiated into the Kappa Sigma fraternity. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation authorizing each senator and representative additional appointments to the military and naval academies, Moore was offered an appointment to the United States Naval Academy by Representative Ed Creal (4th District, Kentucky) — but Moore had no desire to go to the Naval Academy. Moore instead asked Creal whether Creal would be willing to trade that Naval Academy appointment to another congressman for an open Military Academy appointment for Moore if Moore could find a willing partner for the exchange. Creal agreed, and Moore soon found Representative Eugene Cox of Georgia's 2nd Congressional District, with an open appointment to West Point. Cox was impressed with Moore's tenacity and he left Cox's office with the West Point appointment.[7][8]
Military service[edit]
West Point[edit]
Moore received his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy shortly after the United States entered into World War II. He reported to West Point for "Reception Day" on July 15, 1942, and the summer training referred to as "Beast Barracks" held before the formal academic school term took up in the fall.[9][10] During his plebe summer at Pine Camp, he qualified expert on the M-1 Garand rifle and was the top scorer in his company.[9] Although Moore did well in most of his classes, he was academically deficient in the required math subjects and he had to redouble his efforts to absorb the engineering, physics and chemistry, often studying two or three hours past lights out to memorize the material.[9][11] During the fall of 1942 his class received the news that because of the war his class would graduate in three years rather than the usual four years. Moore made it through the plebe year, but just barely, or as he put it, "an academic trip from hell." This observation caused Moore to lead a student life at West Point devoted to studying and very few extracurricular activities.[9] After a ten-day furlough, he reported to Camp Popolopen for summer military training where his company trained with various vehicles and fired many types of weapons.[Note 1] The summer ended with maneuvers held again at Pine Camp.[9] During the second year at the Academy, he studied more complicated subjects like calculus, electrical engineering, thermodynamics and historic military campaigns. Wednesdays were spent watching the latest Staff Combat Film Report which reported the most recent fighting from the Pacific and European war fronts. Summer military training after his second year consisted of touring U.S. Army basic training centers to study tactics and techniques. The final academic year was spent studying military history and tactics as the war was winding down in Europe. Just before graduation each cadet selected his branch of assignment dependent on their academic standing in the class and the quota of openings in each branch. Moore stood in the bottom fifteen percent and he wanted an infantry assignment. When his name was finally called to declare, there were still infantry openings available. Moore graduated from West Point on June 5, 1945, and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry branch.[4][9]
Post-World War II[edit]
Moore's first assignment after graduation was the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia (known as Fort Moore, as of May 11, 2023), which was a six-week course. During the basic course he applied for the airborne jump school at Fort Benning, however, he was not selected and was instead assigned to the three-week jump school held at the 11th Airborne Division in Tokyo, Japan.[12] His first assignment out of jump school was with the 187th Glider Infantry Regiment at Camp Crawford near Sapporo, Japan from 1945 until 1948.[12] After a seven-month stint as company commander, he was assigned as Camp Crawford's construction officer and responsible for all of the construction improvements being made at the camp.[13] In June 1948, he was reassigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg. He volunteered to join the Airborne Test Section, a special unit testing experimental parachutes, and he made the first of some 150 jumps with the section over the next two years on November 17, 1948.[4][14] Over the course of his career, he became a jumpmaster with over 300 jumps.[15][16]
Korean War[edit]
During the Korean War (1950–1953) in 1951, he was ordered to Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Officer's Advanced Course, which would prepare him to command a company or to serve on a battalion staff.[17] In June 1952 Moore was assigned to the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division. As a captain, he commanded a heavy mortar company in combat. He next served as regimental Assistant Chief-of-Staff, Operations and Plans. Moore's promotion to major was put on hold by a policy of the 7th Division commanding general that stated that no promotion to major would be possible without command of an infantry company in combat. The division commander personally assigned Moore to an infantry company so that Moore could be promoted to major and thus later become divisional assistant chief-of staff for operations.[18]
Return to the US[edit]
In 1954, Moore returned to West Point and served for three years as an instructor in infantry tactics. While serving as an instructor, Moore taught then-Cadet Norman Schwarzkopf, who called Moore one of his "heroes," and cites Moore as the reason he chose the infantry branch upon graduation.[4][19] Schwarzkopf later became a general in the U.S. Army and led the U.N. coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq.[19] During this assignment, Moore took a personal interest in the battles between the French Army forces and the Việt Minh at Điện Biên Phủ in Vietnam.[20]
Moore was assigned to attend the year-long student course at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1956. The course prepared majors for the duties of staff officers at the division and corps level.[21] After school at Fort Leavenworth, Moore reported to the Pentagon and the Office, Chief of Research and Development where his initiative and insights were key to the development of new airborne equipment and airborne/air assault tactics. Following graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1960 Moore served a three-year tour as NATO Plans Officer with Headquarters, Allied Forces Northern Europe in Oslo, Norway.[22]
Personal life[edit]
While assigned to Fort Bragg, Moore met Julia B. Compton, the daughter of Colonel and Mrs. Louis J. Compton. Julia was a student enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina and was visiting her parents at Fort Bragg.[12][39] They were married at the Fort Bragg main post chapel on November 22, 1949.[39][40]
After his retirement in 1977, Moore served as the Executive President of the Crested Butte Ski Area, Colorado. In June 2009, the 87-year-old Moore attended the formal opening of the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia. One of the featured exhibits of the museum is a life-size diorama of L.Z. X-Ray from the Battle of Ia Drang.[41][42] The Moores had five children, Greg Moore, Steve Moore, Julie Moore Orlowski, Cecile Moore Rainey, and David Moore,[43] as well as twelve grandchildren.[15] Two of their sons are career U.S. Army officers: one a retired colonel and another a retired lieutenant colonel.[44]
Moore died from a stroke on February 10, 2017, three days before his 95th birthday.[45] He was buried in Fort Benning Post Cemetery on February 17, 2017, with full military honors and laid to rest beside his wife of 55 years who died in 2004.[46][47]
Awards and decorations[edit]
Purple Heart[edit]
While included in the list of awards, Moore never wore the Purple Heart and tried to return the award to the Army while in Vietnam and more formally in 1968. In his January 11, 1968, letter to the Army Adjutant General, he provided this rationale, "I have great respect for the Purple Heart Medal and would be proud to wear it if I consider it were fully earned by me in the future. In the case of this particular award, it was presented on the basis of a superficial "punji-stake" injury in Vietnam in October 1965. I do not feel that I earned the award for that slight injury and hence have never worn it, do not intend to, and request my records be set straight."[50]
On January 16, 1968, the Adjutant General provided a formal response declining the request. The letter summarized, "General Orders pertaining to this award cannot be revoked. This award is part of your official records. It will be available to you in the future if you desire it."[51]