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Posted on 02/11/2017 1:00:52 PM PST by BulletBobCo
Two weeks ago, a senior commander with the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, serving in battle-hardened Afghanistan, sent a letter to Auburn, Alabama.
It was addressed to a national hero.
“You are a true legend…and continue to inspire the troops of today, all across the globe,” he wrote. “We hold one of your edicts close to our hearts – ‘No second-place trophies.’ The winning spirit is alive and well.”
A few months earlier, movie stars Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn made a special trip to Auburn for the sole purpose of seeing this same hero.
He and Gibson had met several times before and have become good friends. Gibson portrayed him in the lead role of the film, “We Were Soldiers.”
Retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore passed away late Friday night. He would have turned 95 years old on Monday, and the Army hero known for saving most of his men and surviving a fierce standoff despite being outnumbered 10-to-1 in the first major battle of the Vietnam War proved to be a ferocious fighter to the very end.
“He had another stroke last week,” one of his children said Thursday evening. “He’s still hanging tough.”
Moore’s family already was in town this weekend to celebrate his 95th birthday with a reunion of all five children here at their Auburn home that has been in the extended family since 1950.
They held a private family celebration with birthday cake Thursday evening, with longtime family friend Mayor Bill Ham invited to join them.
Ham brought with him a framed proclamation that he presented to Moore and his children soon after the traditional singing of “Happy Birthday” and the siblings’ united effort in blowing out two candles carved into waxed infantrymen.
Ham later pondered, however, where it might hang as he surveyed the memorabilia-covered walls in Moore’s study, including another proclamation or two Ham had presented Moore in years past.
It mattered little. “Any mayor anywhere would be honored to have him as a cherished resident and cherished member of the community,” Ham said of his friend.
Not just a song...a hymn. And not just a hymn...a GREAT hymn.
To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord
No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
To the Mansions of the Lord.
Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.
RIP Colonel Moore.
Regards,
"See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man"
Genuine indeed.
RIP Sir! I was 1/9th Cav, it was an honor serving in the same Division as you.
“All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.”
Thanks, his face needs to be remembered.
Ronnie hasn’t made a post since last Nov; hope he’s well.
RIP Lt. Gen Moore
Thanks for the link.
A great leader, a great American. RIP Gen. Moore...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hImQTmRq_Q8
...And when our work is done, our course on earth is run, may it be said ‘Well done!’ Be thou at peace.
RIP good sir.
RIP!
This made me think of Ronnie too. Hope he’s ok.
Condolences to the family.
You did good. May you RIP.
5.56mm
From what I could read, watch and observe of General Moore, he was a soldier’s general.
His posture and the cut of his jaw said Command with a capital C !
A true American military leader, legend and hero.
LT. GEN. HAL MOORE: I pray that my men who were killed in action under my command have eternal life in Jesus Christ. That's the best I can do.
When I go to the cemetery at Fort Benning, Georgia, a one-hour drive from my home here in Alabama, I visit the graves of my men who died in the Ia Drang Valley in 1965. My wife is buried next to Sgt. Jack Gell, whom I held in my arms just after he died. He left a wife and three children. When I go out, I will be buried in the same grave with my wife.
OUR SUNDAY VISITOR: What advice would you offer to someone who is just beginning his or her spiritual journey?
MOORE: Life on this planet is temporary. It's like a snap of the fingers compared to eternal life. You're only given one shot, your lifetime on earth, to quality for eternal life.
I often think of a prayer by Pope Clement XI: "Discover to me, O my God, the nothingness of this world, the greatness of heaven, the shortness of time, and the length of eternity."
I can hardly wait to enjoy life eternal with God and his saints, my late wife Julie, relatives, all my troops who died in battle, all the men and women of history. When I think of what awaits me if I qualify, I can hardly wait to get there.
51 years ago - the same distance as the end of the War of Northern Aggression to US entry into World War I.
One of my absolute favorite movies! Prayers for his family in the loss of a great American, an inspiration to military men and women of America.
We Were Soldiers: Broken Arrow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctnK7wdJmAo
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