Another Vietnam Brother passes - Lt General Hal Moore | Eastern North Carolina Now

    I did not serve with Lt. General Harold Moore but I benefited from his trailblazing techniques in the use of helicopter warfare. Many have possibly seen the movie about the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14-15, 1965 at LZ X-Ray in South Vietnam.

    I was a college student in 1965 enjoying the good life of a student deferment. I have no contemporaneous recollection of that battle or the news surrounding it. I guess like most Americans at the time South East Asia was just something on the nightly news and in 1965, there was not much of that as I remember.

    If you have seen the movie, it was a good representation of how it was. I know from personal experience that the movie, while it had to take some liberties for the sake of film making, was a fairly accurate depiction of combat. You may remember the speech that Hal Moore (played by Mel Gibson) gave to his 'TROOPERS.' That was not totally Hollywood, it was taken from his prepared speeches at Fort Benning. I suspect that Hal more than once, with different sizes of groups, gave the speech several times. Hal was by all accounts not a showman but a from the front leader. The Infantry motto is "Follow Me."


   

Hal Moore Speech

    Hal, and Joseph Galloway, a journalist embedded with the Cavalry, wrote the book that the movie was based on. Both were advisers on the making of the movie. A good bit of the movie was filmed at Fort Benning, Georgia. I took my basic training at Fort Benning in 1967.

    I don't even remember when I first became aware of the Battle of Ia Drang. You see combat veterans don't much care about research on other GI battles. They have enough of their own history to absorb.

    Nevertheless, when the movie came out in 2002, I had 34 years removed from Vietnam under my belt and still had no wish to watch a movie about anything to do with Vietnam. Somewhere along the line, that stance softened and I saw the movie either on TV or Cable replay.

    When I finally summoned the courage to watch the movie, it was not the battle that disturbed me the most. It was the brutal memory of the reality and necessity that the troopers displayed when one of their own died. There was no time for mourning, just time for fighting. If they survived the battle, there would be a lifetime for mourning. And most combat veterans do, as do I.

    Lt General Harold G. Moore died on February 10, 2017. He was just short of his 95th birthday. There can be no better place to commemorate his passing than Stars and Stripes. He will be buried at Fort Benning, Georgia the home of the Infantry.

    I never thought I would live long enough to experience what the older folks saw as the veterans of World War II started dwindling down to a precious few. Hell, there was a time I never thought I would see the next sunrise. But I have, and now I know what they felt. The almost overwhelming sadness felt from years of denial and faux braggadocio eventually catches up with you.

    But live I did and it gives me great sorrow to see one of the most dedicated leaders leave his last duty station. There will be many tributes to Hal Moore but I am sure it will not draw the same attention that a demonstration for our rights does today. But to be sure, regardless of your stance on Vietnam or any war, you must give him his due. He promised:

    "I had told my men that I'm going to be the first man on the ground in any big battle we go into, and I am going to be the last one out. I'm going to bring you all home, and if I go down, I hope you'll bring me home." Last Man out .

    Movies are one thing but here is an excerpt from the book. Page 196-197. If you have trouble reading this click on the text for a larger view.

   That is what I call leadership.

    You will see many pictures of an aging old man in a military uniform but to many he will always be "Forever Young." I would prefer to remember him as the leader of men he was most of his life. Here he is back in the day as it was, with Command Sgt. Major Basil Plumley who passed in 2012.

    His son posted a very short video of the last salute he made to his beloved troopers shortly before he passed. Watch it below. Take a load off sir, we will take it from here.

    We regret to report Lt General Harold G Moore Jr passed away in his sleep on February 10, 2017, also the birthday of his wife, Julia, who passed away in 2004. Mom called Dad home on her day. After having a stoke last week, Dad was more lethargic and had difficulty speaking, but he had always fought his way back...

    "By the time we held an early birthday party on February 9th, Dad could no longer speak and was visibly tired. Upon seeing his cavalry Stetson, his iron will forced a final communication to his beloved West Point, his precious soldiers and the US Army. This video shows his final hand salute. God bless our Dad. Keep and protect him." Hal Moore Family Facebook page.