Photo By Richard Komurek | Scott Moore served in the Army and worked as a Military Policeman from 1988 to 1992,...... read more read more
CHIÈVRES, Belgium – From the East China Sea to the skies and battlefields of France, the Family of Benelux employee Scott Moore bravely heeded the call to defend freedom in Europe and Asia by sending four sons to fight in World War II. For Moore, the deputy director of garrison Emergency Services at Chièvres Air Base, exploring and preserving this legacy of wartime service is not just a history hobby, it’s also a way to honor Family sacrifices by paying respects to relatives that were injured or killed during the war.
As a child, Moore lived on his grandparents’ 40-acre farm in Grice, Texas where they grew corn, beans, squash, potatoes, peanuts, sweet potatoes and also raised a few cows and hogs to butcher. He is connected to World War II through the cousins and sons of his grandmother, Annie Moore. Two of Annie Moore’s first cousins, Staff Sgt. Oscar McIver and Tech. Sgt. Thomas McIver, were killed in 1944 while serving in the U.S. Army and are buried at Epinal American Cemetery in France. Additionally, two of Annie Moore’s sons, Cpl. Preston Moore and Seaman 2nd Class Wason Moore, went overseas to France and the Pacific Ocean to fight against the Germans and Japanese.
Two cousins killed in action
The first of Scott Moore’s relatives killed in World War II was Oscar McIver, a B-17 turret gunner from Tishomingo, Oklahoma, whose Flying Fortress crashed in Pisseleux, France on Feb. 6, 1944. The B-17 was flying in a formation of several Allied aircraft that were returning to England following their mission to bomb Nazi airfields in France and weaken the German Luftwaffe ahead of the D-Day invasion. According to the 96th Bomb Group Museum in Norfolk, England, an Army aviator flying in the formation saw one of the German fighters hit the wing of Oscar McIver’s B-17, causing it to strike another aircraft and explode. The burning B-17 and its crew tumbled out of the sky and scattered bodies and debris across the town of Pisseleux, with locals reporting that Oscar McIver was trapped in the wreckage of the plane as its remaining ammunition continued to explode. Of the ten aircrew, only one survived, a Soldier by the name of Sgt. Joe Pino who was the best friend of Oscar McIver.
Oscar McIver’s cousin, Thomas McIver, was from Buffalo Gap, Texas and served in the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. After arriving in France in June 1944, during the D-Day invasion, his regiment headed towards Paris and he was killed in action on Aug. 29, 1944, during the Battle of Vexin, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people including U.S. forces, German troops and French civilians. Sadly, 31-year-old Thomas McIver never made it to see Paris become liberated. On the same day of his death on the outskirts of the city, the U.S. Army’s 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe for an Allied victory parade. Thomas McIver’s name is among the American Soldiers commemorated on the Liberation of Vexin monument in Fontenay-Saint-Père, and he is buried at Epinal American Cemetery together with Oscar McIver.
Two uncles injured by war
As a young boy, Scott Moore got to know his uncles by spending time with them fishing, hunting, farming and meeting at Family get togethers for birthdays. It was during these post-war years that Scott Moore saw pictures of them in uniform, heard bits and pieces about their military experiences and began to understand and appreciate their wartime service.
Moore’s uncle, Cpl. Preston (Buddy) Moore, was a Soldier in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army who was shot by the Germans in December 1944 as 3rd Army raced from France towards Belgium to help free U.S. Soldiers trapped by the Germans in the siege of Bastogne. After recuperating from his injury for about one month, Buddy Moore returned to duty in the American zone of occupation in Germany and eventually returned to Texas in 1946.
While Buddy Moore was serving in occupied Germany, his older brother Wason was still in combat in the Pacific Ocean as a gunner’s mate on the battleship U.S.S. Maryland, also known as “Old Mary”. Old Mary was one of four battleships that were damaged, but not sunk, during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Wason Moore joined the Old Mary crew after the ship returned to wartime duty in 1942.
Onboard the Maryland, Wason Moore experienced multiple Japanese attacks. In July 1944, Maryland was struck by a Japanese torpedo during the battle of Saipan and in October 1944, the ship was struck by a kamikaze in Leyte Gulf, Philippines, the largest naval battle of World War II. In April 1945, Old Mary was struck once again by a kamikaze aircraft during the Battle of Okinawa, killing 16 Sailors and injuring 37. This time, Wason Moore’s luck ran out and he was seriously injured with a broken back, broken ribs and internal damage and was evacuated to Hawaii for medical treatment. After a few months at the Hawaii military hospital, Wason Moore was sent to Seattle as a patient onboard a hospital ship and then transported by train to the U.S. Naval Convalescent Hospital in Sun Valley, Idaho. In all, Wason Moore spent about 13 months recovering from his injuries before returning home to Texas.
Honoring the Family legacy, passing it on
Like his father Cpl. Audie Moore, who served in the Army as a Combat Engineer, Scott Moore also became an Army Soldier and worked as a Military Policeman from 1988 to 1992, reaching the rank of sergeant. Like his uncles, Scott Moore is also a war Veteran who deployed to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War from 1990 to 1991. Before heading to the Middle East, he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany and returned to Germany after his deployment. The experiences of living in Europe and deploying for a war gave Scott Moore newfound appreciation and respect for the service and sacrifice of his Family members during World War II.
Since his uncles didn’t often discuss their wartime experiences, Scott Moore also learned to appreciate and cherish memories of the rare times that World War II was discussed.
“My uncle Buddy always joked that if he could do it all again, he would still choose to go in the Army, fight in Europe and get wounded rather than stay in East Texas for another summer to work the peanut harvest,” said Scott Moore. “My dad would sometimes joke with my uncle Buddy about where he was wounded. My uncle would say ‘France’ and my dad would say, ‘no I mean your rear end.’”
Now that Scott Moore has returned to Europe as an employee of U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, he is closer than ever to the battle fields and crash sites where his Family members bravely served. He plans to take advantage of this newfound proximity to further explore his Family’s wartime history, along with his daughter, to keep the legacy and memories of World War II alive. This Memorial Day, Scott Moore plans to travel to France with his daughter and visit Epinal American Cemetery, where Oscar and Thomas McIver are buried. After that, he has plans to visit the B-17 crash site in Pisseleux where Oscar McIver’s remains were found.
Fortunately for Scott Moore, his daughter has expressed interest in learning her Family history and is excited about taking photographs during their upcoming visit to the American Cemetery in Epinal.
“My daughter is supportive and understands the importance of preserving our Family’s legacy,” said Scott Moore. “I’ve shown her photos of Oscar McIver and I’ll give her a book written by my cousin Bill McIver, which talks about working with Oscar in the fields as sharecroppers before the war and how that was the last time that he saw him, because Oscar never came home.”
Scott Moore also feels a special sense of responsibility for helping preserve the Family’s World War II history for future generations, as none of the wartime Veterans had any children of their own.
“For my uncles, we’re all they’ve got left to recognize their sacrifices,” said Scott Moore. “Being killed in action, Oscar and Thomas McIver didn’t have any children either. So, if I don't do it then who is going to do it?”
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2025 09:46 |
| Story ID: | 496809 |
| Location: | CHIEVRES, HAINAUT (WAL), BE |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Benelux employee honors Family WWII legacy, by Richard Komurek, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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