[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 2991-2992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IN HONOR OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL HAL MOORE

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 2017

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
one of the most courageous and distinctive military leaders of our 
time, Lieutenant General Harold ``Hal'' G. Moore, the commander at the 
Battle of la Drang in the Vietnam War in 1965. Sadly, LTG Moore passed 
away on Friday, February 10, 2017. A funeral mass will be held on 
Friday, February 17, 2017 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Auburn, 
Alabama, followed by a memorial service and internment at Fort Benning 
in Georgia.
  Hal Moore was born in Bardstown, Kentucky on February 13, 1922. He 
began his military career in 1945 upon graduating from the U.S. 
Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned as a second 
lieutenant in the infantry. His first tactical assignment was with the 
187th Glider Infantry Regiment in Sapporo, Japan. After being 
reassigned, he made more than 130 test jumps with the 82nd Airborne 
Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he also jump-tested 
experimental parachutes. LTG Moore went on to serve in the Korean War 
as a regimental operations officer. In 1964, he was stationed at Fort 
Benning and commanded the newly formed air mobile 11th Air Assault 
Division.
  As a lieutenant colonel during the Vietnam War, Moore was commander 
of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment during the first major 
battle between the United States and the North Vietnamese forces in 
November 1965, the Battle of la Drang. Arriving with about 450 soldiers 
at Landing Zone X-Ray, a field near the Drang River in South Vietnam 
situated six miles from the Cambodian border, LTG Moore quickly 
realized he and his men were vastly outnumbered. Nevertheless, he 
vowed: ``I'll always be the first person on the battlefield, my boots 
will be the first boots on it, and I'll be the last person off. I'll 
never leave a body.'' During the battle, American forces were able to 
gain the upper hand and lead the U.S. to a triumphant victory.
  Alongside award-winning journalist Joe Galloway, who was in la Drang 
as a war correspondent, LTG Moore documented his experiences during the 
battle in the highly acclaimed 1992 book, We Were Soldiers Once . . . 
and Young. The book received such recognition that it was made into the 
film, We Were Soldiers. The proceeds from the book helped establish the 
la Drang Scholarship Fund, which aimed to help the children and 
grandchildren of veterans of the la Drang battle.
  LTG Moore has certainly accomplished many things in his life but none 
would have been possible without the love and support of his late wife, 
Julia; his children, Harold Gregory Moore III, retired Lt. Col. Stephen 
Moore, Julie Moore Orlowski, Cecile Moore Rainey, and retired Col. 
David Moore; his eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to join me, my wife, Vivian, 
the nearly 730,000 people in Georgia's 2nd Congressional District, and 
all Americans, in extending our sincerest appreciation to Lieutenant 
General Hal Moore, an outstanding leader who, in addition to his 
selfless service and instrumental role in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, 
has the respect, admiration, and affection of his brothers-in-arms. 
Indeed, LTG Moore leaves behind a distinguished legacy of service and 
leadership in the United States Army.

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