Spotter22
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This was the life of Bud Moore as a kid, some may know this others not... An American Hero and Original badass
Military career[edit]
On June 2, 1943, a day after graduating high school and a week after his 18th birthday, Moore was drafted into the United States military. Although he expressed interest in joining the Navy as Eubanks, Owens, and Moore's brother Charles were also in the branch, he did not have a college education (which was required for those entering the Navy) and a naval officer attempted to place him in the Marine Corps. Unhappy with this, Moore instead joined the Army. After training at Camp Van Dorn in Mississippi, he went to New Jersey's Fort Dix,[13] where he was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division, D Company, 359th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, 1st Platoon as a machine gunner.[14] As a member of the 1st Platoon, Moore's machine gun was .30 caliber water-cooled, described as a heavy weapon.[15]
Moore and his group were not expecting to participate in the Normandy landings in 1944. In March, they were told they would be involved in an amphibious assault off the English coast, with plans of a dry run upon completing training in Knighton, Powys. The group landed in Liverpool before going to an army camp in Wales, South Yorkshire. On June 4, two days before the landings, Moore observed a map produced by officers and realized the land depicted was not England, but France, and that he would be involved in the invasion of Normandy. The regiment was reattached to the 4th Infantry Division for the operation.[16]
On June 6, Moore's division landed on Utah Beach, where they faced German resistance and other obstacles; at one point, as he waded through the water, Moore stepped in a shell hole and fell in, causing him to go underwater before recovering. Upon reaching land, he hid behind a sand dune before continuing on. By nightfall, the division had reached half a mile inland and started settling into foxholes when the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions arrived to divert German attention. There was also discussion among Moore's division about General Dwight D. Eisenhower recalling them due to the lack of progress made at nearby Omaha Beach, though they stayed at Utah. After clearing the beach, Moore joined General George S. Patton at Périers, Manche.[17] At the city, Moore witnessed American airplanes dropping bombs along a ten-mile strip near the city, an event nicknamed "The Big Push".[14] While he was near Paris, Moore's group was assigned to capture the Cotentin Peninsula before returning to Patton. Instead of Moore's group, General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque's men liberated Paris.[18]
After leaving France, Moore's group crossed the Siegfried Line and reached the Rhine before being withdrawn to Verdun, where they stayed for three weeks without supplies. As it turned out, the Germans had built their infantry along the Siegfried Line and had launched the Battle of the Bulge, which forced Moore's division to fight their way back to the line and losing approximately 12,000 men in the process.[19] On one mission during the battle, Moore and a German-speaking Jeep driver entered a German-occupied town that also served as a Wehrmacht area regimental headquarters. The two began to inspect houses and spotted a German soldier running into a wooden hut. Moore attacked the hut, causing it to catch fire and prompting the soldier to surrender; he was tied onto the hood of the Jeep. As they continued through the town, they noticed more Germans hiding in a rock house, which Moore also fired upon. Although the Germans displayed a white flag of surrender, they did not exit the building; Moore's driver ordered the captured soldier to convince his comrades to surrender before Moore summoned artillery. When they left the house, Moore discovered 15 soldiers and four officers among the surrendering German troops. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his work in the operation.[14]
As he continued through Germany into Czechoslovakia, Moore was promoted to sergeant, during which he earned a second Bronze Star after his involvement in a battle located in an abandoned hospital.[14] He also received five Purple Hearts, four for shrapnel damage and one for taking machine gun fire to the hip. In spite of his injuries, he was often sent back into battle after brief stays in the hospital; by February 1945, he and a lieutenant were the only men in the group to have fought in Normandy. At one point, Moore and the lieutenant were to receive a 90-day furlough and return to the United States in March, but Moore was injured and his reprieve papers were lost, forcing him to remain in Europe.[20]
In December 1944, he participated in the Siege of Bastogne, providing support for the besieged 101st Airborne Division.[20] Two months later, Moore's division was replaced by the 5th, though he stayed at the Rhine.[21] Germany surrendered in May, ending the war in Europe. At the time, Moore was in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, learning of the German defeat from Red Army soldiers.[22] Despite the victory in Europe, Moore wondered about the possibility of fighting in the Pacific War against Japan, though the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August ended speculation of such combat.[23] To return troops home, the government instituted a points system in which the most decorated troops leaving first. With his medals and service time of nine months and fourteen days without a break, he was among the first to return to the United States,[24] doing so aboard the USS Excelsior; the ship was named after the Excelsior Mills in Union, South Carolina near Moore's hometown of Spartanburg.[14] He was formally discharged on November 15, 1945.[25]
Despite his honors, Moore distanced himself from his allies. He received the information of his company members, but did not contact them out of worry that doing so would lead to him finding out they were killed in action.[25] He also turned down offers to return to the beaches of Europe, saying he "left too many friends over there."[24] In 1994, the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Moore was invited by Unocal Corporation to follow his route during the war from Utah Beach to Czechoslovakia.[25] He declined the offer, stating he "would have gone, but when racing is your livelihood and there's a race on the schedule for a certain weekend, you about have to be there."[14]
Military career[edit]
On June 2, 1943, a day after graduating high school and a week after his 18th birthday, Moore was drafted into the United States military. Although he expressed interest in joining the Navy as Eubanks, Owens, and Moore's brother Charles were also in the branch, he did not have a college education (which was required for those entering the Navy) and a naval officer attempted to place him in the Marine Corps. Unhappy with this, Moore instead joined the Army. After training at Camp Van Dorn in Mississippi, he went to New Jersey's Fort Dix,[13] where he was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division, D Company, 359th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, 1st Platoon as a machine gunner.[14] As a member of the 1st Platoon, Moore's machine gun was .30 caliber water-cooled, described as a heavy weapon.[15]
Moore and his group were not expecting to participate in the Normandy landings in 1944. In March, they were told they would be involved in an amphibious assault off the English coast, with plans of a dry run upon completing training in Knighton, Powys. The group landed in Liverpool before going to an army camp in Wales, South Yorkshire. On June 4, two days before the landings, Moore observed a map produced by officers and realized the land depicted was not England, but France, and that he would be involved in the invasion of Normandy. The regiment was reattached to the 4th Infantry Division for the operation.[16]
On June 6, Moore's division landed on Utah Beach, where they faced German resistance and other obstacles; at one point, as he waded through the water, Moore stepped in a shell hole and fell in, causing him to go underwater before recovering. Upon reaching land, he hid behind a sand dune before continuing on. By nightfall, the division had reached half a mile inland and started settling into foxholes when the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions arrived to divert German attention. There was also discussion among Moore's division about General Dwight D. Eisenhower recalling them due to the lack of progress made at nearby Omaha Beach, though they stayed at Utah. After clearing the beach, Moore joined General George S. Patton at Périers, Manche.[17] At the city, Moore witnessed American airplanes dropping bombs along a ten-mile strip near the city, an event nicknamed "The Big Push".[14] While he was near Paris, Moore's group was assigned to capture the Cotentin Peninsula before returning to Patton. Instead of Moore's group, General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque's men liberated Paris.[18]
After leaving France, Moore's group crossed the Siegfried Line and reached the Rhine before being withdrawn to Verdun, where they stayed for three weeks without supplies. As it turned out, the Germans had built their infantry along the Siegfried Line and had launched the Battle of the Bulge, which forced Moore's division to fight their way back to the line and losing approximately 12,000 men in the process.[19] On one mission during the battle, Moore and a German-speaking Jeep driver entered a German-occupied town that also served as a Wehrmacht area regimental headquarters. The two began to inspect houses and spotted a German soldier running into a wooden hut. Moore attacked the hut, causing it to catch fire and prompting the soldier to surrender; he was tied onto the hood of the Jeep. As they continued through the town, they noticed more Germans hiding in a rock house, which Moore also fired upon. Although the Germans displayed a white flag of surrender, they did not exit the building; Moore's driver ordered the captured soldier to convince his comrades to surrender before Moore summoned artillery. When they left the house, Moore discovered 15 soldiers and four officers among the surrendering German troops. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his work in the operation.[14]
As he continued through Germany into Czechoslovakia, Moore was promoted to sergeant, during which he earned a second Bronze Star after his involvement in a battle located in an abandoned hospital.[14] He also received five Purple Hearts, four for shrapnel damage and one for taking machine gun fire to the hip. In spite of his injuries, he was often sent back into battle after brief stays in the hospital; by February 1945, he and a lieutenant were the only men in the group to have fought in Normandy. At one point, Moore and the lieutenant were to receive a 90-day furlough and return to the United States in March, but Moore was injured and his reprieve papers were lost, forcing him to remain in Europe.[20]
In December 1944, he participated in the Siege of Bastogne, providing support for the besieged 101st Airborne Division.[20] Two months later, Moore's division was replaced by the 5th, though he stayed at the Rhine.[21] Germany surrendered in May, ending the war in Europe. At the time, Moore was in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, learning of the German defeat from Red Army soldiers.[22] Despite the victory in Europe, Moore wondered about the possibility of fighting in the Pacific War against Japan, though the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August ended speculation of such combat.[23] To return troops home, the government instituted a points system in which the most decorated troops leaving first. With his medals and service time of nine months and fourteen days without a break, he was among the first to return to the United States,[24] doing so aboard the USS Excelsior; the ship was named after the Excelsior Mills in Union, South Carolina near Moore's hometown of Spartanburg.[14] He was formally discharged on November 15, 1945.[25]
Despite his honors, Moore distanced himself from his allies. He received the information of his company members, but did not contact them out of worry that doing so would lead to him finding out they were killed in action.[25] He also turned down offers to return to the beaches of Europe, saying he "left too many friends over there."[24] In 1994, the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Moore was invited by Unocal Corporation to follow his route during the war from Utah Beach to Czechoslovakia.[25] He declined the offer, stating he "would have gone, but when racing is your livelihood and there's a race on the schedule for a certain weekend, you about have to be there."[14]
