Hal Moore

Harold Gregory Moore Jr. (February 13, 1922 – February 10, 2017) was a United States Army lieutenant general and author. As a lieutenant colonel, he commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War. The battle was detailed in the 1992 bestseller We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, co-authored by Moore and made into the film We Were Soldiers in 2002, which starred Mel Gibson as Moore. Moore was the "honorary colonel" of the regiment. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second-highest decoration for valor, and was the first soldier in his West Point graduating class of 1945 to be promoted to brigadier general, major general, and lieutenant general. Moore was awarded the Order of Saint Maurice by the National Infantry Association as well as the Distinguished Graduate Award by the West Point Association of Graduates.