A few weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hal Moore. Moore, now in his late 80s, is the author of We Were Soldiers Once…And Young. That book was turned into one of the best war movies of all time, We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson. That motion picture
depicts the first major American battle in Vietnam. The battle took place in November 1965 at Ia Drang (“valley of death”). Moore, a Lt. Col. at the time, and his men were vastly outnumbered during the battle and would certainly have all been killed if not for Moore’s valiant actions in leading an offensive attack against the Vietnamese. Moore lost 79 of his men while the enemy suffered over 1,000 casualties.
Gen. Moore provided me and other military chaplains with a complimentary copy of his book, A General’s Spiritual Journey. Moore, a Roman Catholic, states publicly, “My convictions on leadership, and my actions as a Military, Business, and Family Leader are based on my strong Christian beliefs—most especially the wisdom and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Ten Commandments.” One of the most meaningful prayers to Gen. Moore is that of Clement XI (1649-1721):
“Discover to me, O God,
the nothingness of this world,
the greatness of heaven,
the shortness of time,
and the length of eternity.”
While I find much to object to with Gen. Moore’s Romanism, I admire the man greatly and am challenged by the prayer of Clement which challenges him.
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Sir, that is really quite cool indeed!
That was a great movie and learning of the history behind it was/is fascinating.
I’m sure that was an uplifting time and I appreciate you sharing it. Now, if you could just get me a Stan Musial autographed ball …
Gunny:
I’m working on getting a trio of those autographed babies! One for Dad, one for you, and one for, well, for me of course.
Loved that movie, especially the last scene.
That last scene put a lump in my throat. . . felt very close to home. Don’t tell anybody Lance, I’ll deny it.