From today's TIMES and NEWS-STAR
Most
of us know Hal Moore from Mel Gibson’s portrayal of him in the 2002 movie “We
Were Soldiers.” One year from November will mark the 50th
anniversary of the bloody Ia Drang Battle, portrayed in the movie; the Vietnam
War had just begun.
But
it wasn’t the beginning of the story of Moore, the Spirit of Independence
honoree at the 2006 Independence Bowl, recipient of the Distinguished Service
Cross and one of the greatest battlefield commanders of the 20th
century.
In
2009, Army captain Mike Guardia began looking for a biography about Moore, now
a retired United States Army lieutenant general whose memoir, “We Were Soldiers
Once…and Young,” inspired the movie. There wasn’t a biography. Thanks to both
Moore and Guardia, there is now.
Tank
officer Guardia, currently stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, the father of two
little girls and personal aide to the brigade commander, spent a week with
Moore in 2011 at the 92-year-old’s home in Auburn, Alabama. The result of that
visit and Guardia’s exhaustive research has resulted in the first biography of
one of America’s most faithful and accomplished soldiers.
Available
at most bookstores and online, Guardia’s “Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always”
has been nominated as a finalist in the Military Writers Society of America’s
2014 book awards. Filled with photographs from Moore’s personal collection, easily
readable and informative, the 229-page book also captures the real-life drama
of a man who fought in Vietnam and in the battles of Old Baldy, T-Bone and Pork
Chop Hill in Korea, who served in Occupied Japan immediately after World War
II, and who oversaw the Army’s transition from a conscript-based to an
all-volunteer force as commander of the Army Training Center in Fort Ord,
California, beginning in 1971.
“If
you enjoyed ‘We Were Soldiers,’ that’s just one snapshot of his remarkable
life,” Guardia said this week from Fort Bliss. “Here’s a man whose life touched
so many historical events, who had such a great impact through all the theaters
he served in. It’s amazing to see what an impact he had on the U.S. Army as a
whole.”
When
approached about the biography possibility in 2009, Moore was gracious in
turning down Guardia. Moore’s wife had recently died; he was prepared to live
out the rest of his life quietly in Alabama.
But
two years later, Guardia sent Moore one more letter, along with a copy of his
first book, “American Guerilla,” about the life of Special Forces founder Russell
Volckmann. Moore called a couple of weeks later. “When can you come over?”
Moore asked.
At
his Auburn home, Moore and Guardia went through papers and photos and memories.
“He was pretty open about the whole thing, once he saw I was serious and once he
decided to do this,” Guardia said. “He didn’t put any restrictions on me. We’d
see a photo or I’d say a word and it would remind him of something, and he’d
take an hour to tell the story.”
Of
course Ia Drang is covered, along with battle maps and on-site photographs. The
first full-fledged battle between U.S. and North Vietnamese regulars, Ia Drang
was the site of America’s first use of “air mobile infantry,” as well as the
site of the deaths of 79 American soldiers and more than 1,200 Communists.
But
the book is also a complete story of Moore’s battles before and after that
November in Vietnam, about his beginnings in the foothills of Kentucky, about
his role in helping to revive the country’s post-Vietnam army. His is a life
every American would do well to know more about, to learn from, and in many
ways, to mirror.
“He
told me, ‘Mike, if you tell them nothing else, I’d like it to be my philosophy
of never giving up,’” Guardia said. “His one core principal is that no matter how
bad things get, there is always one more thing that you can do to improve your
odds of success. In baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out. But three
strikes doesn’t mean you’re out in the real game of life.”
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