Harold Gregory “Hal” Moore, Jr. was born on February 13, 1922, and died on February 10, 2017.
He was a United States Army lieutenant general and author.
Moore received the Distinguished Service Cross, which is the U.S. military’s second-highest decoration for valor, and was the first of his West Point class (1945) to be promoted to brigadier general, major general, and lieutenant general.
He was best remembered as the lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War.
That battle was made into the movie We Were Soldiers in 2002, which starred actor Mel Gibson as Moore; Moore was the “honorary colonel” of the regiment.
He was assigned to Fort Bragg, while he was there, Moore met Julia B. Compton, the daughter of Colonel and Mrs. Louis J. Compton.
At the time, she was a student enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina and happened to be visiting her parents at Fort Bragg.
The couple married at the Fort Bragg main post chapel on November 22, 1949.
He retired in 1977.
Then Moore served as the Executive President of the Crested Butte Ski Area, Colorado.
Hal Moore passed away at 94 years old.