The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Lt. Col. Harold G.(Hal) Moore - Sep. 6th, 2003

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

[SAMWolf]

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.

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

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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.

[colorado tanker]

The "best and brightest" attitude seems to apply to all democrats not just the Kennedy Adminstration.

That party is indeed full of ideas so stupid only an intellectual could believe them, to borrow a phrase.

[SAMWolf]

I saw that line too, thought it was pretty good myself.

[Darksheare]

Macs and I do not mix either.
Under normal usage, I can crash almost anything in record time.
(The exception being the Nintendo Gameboy.)

Currently using my machine, as it is now 'partially complete' with the switching of the OS.
Will have to beat XP's arrogance out of it sooner or later.
(All operating systems assume that you do not know where you want things put and will strive to install things where you don't want it regardless of user input.)

But, I now have my machine back up.
Even if it is like taking a ship to sea with it half completed.

Win98 had a few 'issues' with fast systems.
Win2000 had less issues with fast systems, but usually drivers were minimal in population.
Thankfully, XP has more drivers available and is supposed to have the stability that Win2000 had.
(Unfortunately, I have no experience with Win2000, so this will be a learning experience. I will keep you informed of my discoveries.)

I'm through with most of the trouble, but now have to complete setting it up, wiping the old drive and working the 'teething' problems of a new install out.
*phew*
;-[ vlah! vlah!

[SAMWolf]

Never even considered a Mac, I got into computers for the games and Macs just didin't support the ones I liked.

[Darksheare]

Same here.

That, and I'm the guy who got a MAC to reliably crash under normal usage.
*Shudder*

Linux doesn't have the games I want either, so that's out.
Xp has a few arrogances, like 'idle or unused' icons in your taskbar suddenly are hidden.
You then have to hunt down where to shut that feature off.
Items that are not used also end up getting stuck in a hidden folder.
(Both are shut off at this time.)

But it is still more stable than Win98.
Will be around.

[Soaring Feather]

So great to hear from you!

Wow, what a time you have been having.

I love MACS!! Hate Windows ugh. My laptop has Windows XP.

Hope to have you back on a regular basis soon. :-)

[SAMWolf]

My son's newer, faster, bigger better Dell came this weekend. Now I'm jealous.

[Darksheare]

Macs and I have a hate/hate relationship.
Ever since I crashed one while listening to music and downloading a file at the same time (simple task that even some windows machines freak about.) Macs and I have been at odds.
It was the way it freaked.
It didn't like the download, and nixed it as well as deleting the music I was listening to and crashing out of MacOS.
(It was a friend's machine, and he had been bragging about it being crash proof.)

I am proof that there is no such thing as a crashless machine.
It's been a learning experience in as much as I am now in new territory with WinXP.
I'll be around, alot more than I have been, and will be testing the setup.

Just discovered that XP doesn't like Winamp 2.91's direct sound support.
Hmmm...

[Darksheare]

I'm building this machine piecemeal.
The motherboard was 104 at googlegear.com (49 bucks for 256Mb of Kingston PC2700 DDR)
Free shipping.
I had the tower case for a year sitting empty, 300 Watt power supply, so the board went into there.

The processor is borrowed at the moment, until I save up enough for at least an XP2600. (Anywhere from 104 to 190 bucks, retail in box with AMD approved fan.)
The drives were scrounged from my old systems, ATA 100 drives are still usable, and are not yet obsolete.

The CD rom drive and the CD-RW drive are only UDMA 33 drives, though.
(Cough)

Scratch building a machine yourself is rather entertaining, and can actually be a good hobby once you get good at it. (I'm not THAT good at it yet.)
I DO know people who make money building machiens for people.
I also know people who can get good prices on things.
(Though I have been able to trump their prices once in a blue moon..)

Be jealous of the son's system.
And then build one to stompinate it.
*chuckle*

[SAMWolf]

Be jealous of the son's system.
And then build one to stompinate it.

Some day, maybe. (or I'll just wait a week and his will be obsolete) :-)

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...A1-E Skyraider =

...Planes of Fame Museum-Chino, California

http://www.PlanesofFame.com


Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer / Chino's Annual Christmas Lights' 'Crazy Dancing' Santa Claus-20 yrs .."HO-HO-HO"..

[ALOHA RONNIE]

..'911 Remembered: RICK RESCORLA was a Soldier'


http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/978534/posts?page=32


NEVER FORGET

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for the ping, Ronnie.

For Rick, and Col. Moore.

Moore concluded his remarks by stressing the bond that exists between a commander and his soldiers. When one cadet inquired about the feeling of comrades in arm, Moore’s eyes welled with tears and he said, "When your men die and you don’t, you feel guilty. That’s all I can say about it." Today 37 years after the Battle in the Ia Drang Valley, Moore makes annual pilgrimages to the cemetery at Fort Benning, Ga., where several of his troopers are interred, and to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial in Washington, D.C. In the wake of the tragedy of September 11, the old commander, now in his 80th year, paid his respects to Rick Rescorla, a former lieutenant who died in the destruction of the World Trade Center.

Thank you for your service, Ronnie...and your loyalty.

Good thread, SAM. Thank you.

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