[February 15, 2017] I’ve known about Hal Moore since I was a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and looked upon him as a great American hero. His legacy originated with his heroic actions at the Battle of Ia Drang, Vietnam 1965 as an Infantry Battalion Commander but there was, of course, much more to it than that. Hal Moore was revered as a fighter, courageous, and honorable man and for that he is a hero.
I write this today because just this past Friday he passed away; he was 94 years old and I wanted to take one more time to honor him. I was fortunate to have dinner with Moore three years ago and listened to him speak about leadership and field a few questions about his most famous battle in the Ia Drang Valley. It was a wonderful evening and he was a most gracious man.
Harold Gregory “Hal” Moore was born in 1922 in Kentucky but because he wanted to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he moved to Washington, D.C., working in the U.S. Senate book warehouse. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry in June 1945, he missed World War II but served in the Korean War as Company Commander of a heavy mortar company.
“There is always one more thing you can do to increase your odds of success.” – Hal Moore, U.S. Army Infantry Officer
Beginning on November 14, 1965, Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore led the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry under the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in the week-long Battle of Ia Drang. Encircled by North Vietnamese Army forces and no landing zone to extract his forces, his unit would go on to decisively defeat the NVA despite being greatly outnumbered. Moore credited the win to his entire command.
Moore went on to successfully complete a number of command and staff assignments and retired in 1977 as a Lieutenant General. As I can personally attest, he didn’t stop leading from the front as he did at Ia Drang. Hal Moore gave talks all across the nation, mentored a number of army officers, taught leadership, and always took care of his family.
Hal Moore along with coauthor Joseph L. Galloway wrote the book We Were Soldiers Once … And Young. The book was adapted into the film We Were Soldiers (2002) with Mel Gibson playing Hal Moore.
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