Kenneth Lee Moore was born on November 13, 1921 in Berkey, Ohio to the late Kenneth Lee Moore Sr. and was the fifth of seven children. To help his mother support their struggling family, he dropped out of high school at age 16 and went to Vernal, Utah with the Civil Conservation Corps. He met his Hoosier wife at a USO dance during Army basic training at Camp Breckinridge, Ky and became part of the 83rd Infantry, 331st Medical Detachment during that time. He served as a medic on the front lines in Europe during the Normandy, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe campaigns. Before, he was wounded in action from shrapnel in France on July 19, 1944. Shortly after he was wounded, he was captured by Germans, however, the 'Big Kraut' that carried him to safety, repeatedly promising him "hospital soon" was a guardian angel to him while he was a POW. Dad always remembered how he carefully stopped and scolded his German comrades if any of them staretd to give Dad any grief. Since antibiotics were nonexistent then, his shrapnel wound slowly healed after maggots were allowed to clean out the infected tissue. Ken also had two other brothers who served in the Air Force and Navy during WW2 and all returned home safely.
After he returned to Ohio, he married his Hoosier sweetheart and raised 4 children in Oakland City, Indiana while he worked as a press set up man at International Harvester and Faultless Caster for 36 years, maintaining a 120 acre grain/livestock farm as 'a hobby'. A talented southpaw, he was a natural at drawing and carpentry, not to mention his tenderness and unconditional love as a family man. He could sing like Bing Crosby. His coolness and sense of humor during family conflicts was phenomenal; he would frequently kid about "do you need a shot?" if we wouldn't make peace among ourselves, and would offer very thoughtful medical advice when any of us were ill even though we did go to the local docs as needed, of course. He always asked when our last B.M. was if we complained of a tummy ache. I'll bet that was a common problem during WWII by the way I heard of life in those foxholes.
This story and biographical information was submitted by Kenneth's daughter Annette to the Thunderbolt Magazine Vol.59 N°3 of the 83rd Infantry Division Association.
