The FReeper Foxhole Revisits A Profile of Lt. Col. Harold G.(Hal) Moore - Sep. 6th, 2003

Army Magazine ^ | November 2002 | Col. Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army retired

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

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Lt. Col. Harold G.(Hal) Moore
(1922 - *)

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Beyond the Ia Drang Valley

"The will to win, the will to survive, they endure. They are more important than the events that occasion them." -- Vince Lombardi

In his novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, author Steven Pressfield describes a scene in which Dienekes, a Spartan officer, prepares his men for a battle against a numerically superior army of Persians. Watching Dienekes rally and tend to his men, the narrator identifies the essential role of an officer in combat: to prevent those under his command, at all stages of battle -- before, during and after -- from becoming so overcome by terror or anger that emotion usurps dominion of the mind. "To fire their valor when it flagged and rein in their fury when it threatened to take them out of hand" -- that was Dienekes’ job.


COLONEL MOORE AND ENEMY CASUALTY

Two and a half millennia later, a modern Spartan displayed similar attributes of self-restraint and self-composure when Lt. Col. Harold G. (Hal) Moore led the men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry into the Ia Drang Valley in the Republic of Vietnam in November 1965. Like Dienekes before him, Moore bequeathed a legacy of raw courage and inspirational leadership in war’s darkest crucible. By his own admission, Moore is not a hero, but to his men and to a generation of future officers whom he addressed at the U.S. Military Academy, he is the penultimate battle captain. When actor Mel Gibson and his entourage visited West Point in the spring of 2002 to launch the premier of his movie "We Were Soldiers," the greatest applause was reserved not for Gibson, but for Moore, who quietly slipped away unnoticed during the film’s battle scenes. Not surprisingly, in a recent survey conducted following one of his visits, the majority of cadets identified Moore as the most inspirational officer in their cadet experience.

To a Long Gray Line accustomed to visits by the Army’s most distinguished leaders, why does Moore stand out? The true essence of his popularity within the Corps of Cadets is not limited to his command of American troops in the first pitched battle in the Vietnam War between the U.S. Army and the North Vietnamese Army. Scores of commanders have conducted similar battles and achieved like success. What differentiates Moore from his fellow warriors is his message concerning preparation for battlefield leadership and his own philosophy on the conduct of a leader in battle.

Hal Moore’s road to his status as a cadet icon began in the hills of Kentucky in a small town called Bardstown. Born on February 13, 1922, Moore matriculated to West Point by a circuitous path. Unable to secure an appointment before his graduation from high school, Moore left home in February 1940 and traveled to Washington, D.C., where he hoped his chances to secure a congressional appointment would be enhanced. He completed high school at night and attended George Washington University in the evenings for two years. When Congress doubled the size of the Corps of Cadets in 1942 to meet wartime commitments, Moore finally obtained his appointment from a Georgia congressman. The entire process reinforced Moore’s belief that the first person you must learn to lead is yourself. Set lofty goals and persist until you achieve them.


Lt. Col. Moore and Sgt-Maj. Plumley

Never the best student in the mathematical sciences, Moore struggled, taking refuge in religious activities that further honed his character. His greatest joy in Beast Barracks was firing Expert on the M-1 rifle with the top score in the company. His academic pursuits proved more difficult. In his own words, his first semester at West Point was "an academic trip from hell." Moments of quiet meditation in the Catholic chapel and long hours of study finally paid dividends. As cited in West Point’s yearbook, Hal Moore graduated in 1945 under the curtailed curriculum "untouched by the machinations of the T.D. [Tactical Department] and Academic Departments."

Not surprising to anyone who knew him well, Moore selected Infantry as his branch and joined the 187th Airborne Regiment in Sendai, Japan. The summer of 1948 found 1st Lt. Moore at Fort Bragg, N.C., where he jump-tested experimental parachutes and other airborne gear. By his own calculation, he made upwards of 150 test jumps over the course of the next three years. On his first test jump, however, the parachute hung on the tail of a C-46 and Moore was dragged behind the plane, at 110 miles per hour, 1,500 feet above the drop zone before he could cut it off and use his reserve. The ability to take a few seconds to think under such hazardous conditions would become a hallmark of Moore’s character for the remainder of his military career. The years at Bragg also marked Moore as a quiet professional unfazed by challenges.

In June 1952, Moore, now a husband and father of two children, deployed to Korea. Over the course of the next 14 months, he commanded a rifle company and heavy mortar company in the 17th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division, seeing action in the battles of attrition on Pork Chop Hill, T-Bone, Alligator Jaws and Charlie Outpost. By now Moore was a battle-tested commander. When the armistice was signed in July 1953, he reported to the U.S. Military Academy to teach infantry tactics to aspiring officers. The post-Korean War army also brought Moore to the Pentagon, where he served with distinction in the Air Mobility Division in the office of the Chief of Research and Development, in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans.



Following graduation from the Naval War College in June 1964, Lt. Col. Moore received a by-name request from Brig. Gen. Harry W. O. Kinnard, commanding general, 11th Air Assault Division (Test), to serve as a battalion commander. Redesignated the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in July 1965, the division deployed to South Vietnam’s Central Highlands in response to Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of the war. It was in that capacity that Moore’s 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry fought the first major pitched battle with the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965.

Moore’s conduct of the battle is well chronicled in his and Joe Galloway’s We Were Soldiers Once. . . and Young and needs little elaboration here. Suffice it to say that the success of Moore’s soldiers in repelling the attack of a well-disciplined enemy force five times their own size was the result of Moore’s battlefield leadership and the indomitable spirit of his men. Moore was first off the lead helicopter and the last soldier to leave the battlefield three days later. Putting everything he had learned at West Point and 20 years of leadership in battle into the action, Moore inflicted over 600 dead on the enemy at a cost of 79 killed and 121 wounded. True to his word, he brought out every one of his troopers. In fact throughout his 32-year career, Hal Moore never abandoned an American soldier on the battlefield.

Following the Ia Drang Battle, Moore was promoted to command the 1st Cavalry Division’s 3rd Brigade that saw action on the Bong Son Plain in January 1966. Subsequent tours of duty included service with the International Security Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Defense; commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea, and then commanding general of Fort Ord, Calif. Moore ended his career as deputy chief of staff for personnel. When he retired in 1977, he became an executive vice president of the company that developed the ski area at Crested Butte, Colo. Four years later he formed a computer software company. Now in retirement, Moore spends his time with his wife Julie and their family in their homes in Crested Butte, Colo., and Auburn, Ala.


INFANTRY ADVANCING AT LZ X-RAY

Moore’s achievements in a career spanning three decades are legendary. First in his West Point class to be promoted to one, two and three stars, Moore received accelerated promotions on six occasions. Recipient of the Purple Heart and seven awards for battlefield valor, including the Distinguished Service Cross, Moore never lost a man as prisoner or missing in action, which brings us back to West Point and why the Corps of Cadets holds Moore in such high esteem.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam

[colorado tanker]

LOL! Kinda hard to imagine Gen. Moore as a Powerpoint Ranger, isn't it? He is the real deal, a real soldier.

[colorado tanker]

Wish that rule still applied.

You can say that again. These days, even the parents of privates feel entitled to tell the press how the war ought to be fought.

[snippy_about_it]

How can a country that can produce General Hal Moore be so close to electing John Kerry?

Isn't it mind-boggling?

I thought we should re-run Sam's thread on him today since Saturday is the anniversary of the start of the Ia Drang Valley battle. It's been 19 years. Never Forget.

Thanks for your comments Iris7.

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon EGC.

[snippy_about_it]

Oh yum!

Good afternoon Gail.

[snippy_about_it]

Lemon Tree.

I've heard Sam sing that. Not bad.

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon Darksheare.

[snippy_about_it]

Nice flag-o-gram today guys! Thanks.

[snippy_about_it]

Hiya feather. It's been overcast here, need the lights on to work! If I didn't have so much to do I'd prefer sleeping in this weather.

[snippy_about_it]

Wish that rule still applied.

The press today couldn't be trusted to keep their word!

They expect to have at least 3000 of us crazies there. I'll take some pics and send them along with the music.

Wonderful news. We will anxiously await the CD and pics!

[snippy_about_it]

:-)

[snippy_about_it]

Hiya ct.

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon CT.

If we had the MSM we have today during WWII, they'd be apologing to the Japanese for Pearl Harbor.

[Diver Dave]

Afternoon to the Foxhole.

Great presentation today!

Interesting article (at least to me) in our local paper this morning about a Navy Destroyer reunion taking place this week in Modesto.

Shipmates reunite in Modesto

[colorado tanker]

Yep, I can hear the charges now. Roosevelt was clueless, the Germans had nothing to do with 12-7, so why declare war on them? And no WMD were found in Germany, all that atomic bomb talk was a lie. Pearl Harbor was all the fault of the US because we embargoed the Japanese. Why, the Japanese didn't threaten us until we threatened them. The truth is we went to war for Indonesian oil and to help out that warmonger Churchill!

Roosevelt screwed everything up! Look at the messes at Tarawa and Kasserine Pass. Why so many casualties at Guadalcanal? We don't have enough allies - we're pulling all of the load (except for Britain, Australia, India, China, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, free Poland and free France, but they don't count because they're "bribed and coerced"). Why the troops don't even have body armor! It's a QUAGMIRE!

War is not the answer! (Sheesh)

[Samwise]

Hidee Hoe, PE!

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am

[PsyOp]

Stunning photo of the B-25!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

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Spread the word on the internet!

Post on internet boards AND e-mails!

Stolen Honor nails Kerry and the VVAW
and how they lied at Winter Soldier.
And how Kerry lied to the US Senate in 1971
And how Kerry and his pack of liars caused our POW's to suffer!

Kerry and the DNC cannot stop
EVERYONE on the internet from seeing this!

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Kerry still refuses to sign Form 180!

But he has time to watch baseball on TV?

So he has time BUT won't sign Form 180!

What SECRET does he hide in his military records?

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick