Julie Moore....

Julie Moore died Sunday at the age of 75. Julie was the wife of Gen. Hal Moore who commanded the 1/7th Cavalry at the battle at LZ Xray in Vietnam. A battle immortalized in the film We Were Soldiers. Mel Gibson played the part of then, LTC. Moore and with almost equal film time the part of Julie was aptly played by Madeleine Stowe. This was a good thing, because Mrs. Moores role in real life was equally as important as her husbands.

I met Mrs. Moore for the first time in November of 2001 at the Washington D.C. reunion of those who survived the battles in the Ia Drang. I introduced myself as a good friend of We Were Soldiers author and correspondent Joe Galloway and was surprised to hear her say that she knew of me and then she proceeded to relate several things about my life that Joe had apparently told her. She was one of those persons whom you instantly feel you've known for a very long time. The photo above was taken on that occasion with my friend Bruce Crandall, who was played by Greg Kinnear in the film.

Over the last three years I saw Mrs. Moore again once and talked to her twice on the telephone during times I had occasion to call Gen. Moore. I'm still humbled that in those times she treated me as a friend of long standing and asked me about current situtions in my life, how my family was and sent a personal note wishing "my" Julie and me the best in our then upcoming marriage. I can see how all those who served under Gen. Moore in Vietnam idolize her, they way they do her husband. And I feel anguish for Gen. Moore, her surviving children and people like Joe Galloway to whom she was more than just a close personal friend, she was a guiding star in their lives.

I won't say anymore, Joe has expressed the feelings of many in his newspaper column. There will never be another Julie Moore. Julie Moore, by Joe Galloway