Military: WWII: U.S. Army, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, 2nd Battalion, Screaming Eagle Medic
Occupation: Chevron Oil representative, owned gas stations in San Francisco and Sonoma
Married: May 7, 1946, GENEVIEVE WELLS, El Centro, Imperial Co., California
(1926 - 2001)
Three children:
1. Christopher Jay "Chris" MOORE
1946 - 2000
2. Francis Jay "Frank" MOORE
1948 -
Stephanie Virginia MOORE
3. 1951 - 2006
===========
Dec 24, 2014, Sonoma Index Tribune, Sonoma:
Kenneth J. Moore
November 5, 1924 - December 7, 2014
Kenneth J. Moore of Sonoma, California, passed peacefully in his sleep on the 7th of December 2014 at Sonoma Hospital. He was 90 years of age.
Kenneth was born on November 5, 1924 in Los Angeles, CA. After completing high school he enlisted in the Army's 101st Airborne Division where he participated in World War II as a medic. He received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for setting up an aid station in a Normandy church that saved 81 people's lives on D-Day. His heroism is documented in the book Angels of Mercy and the film Eagles of Mercy. After the war, he returned to California and married his high school sweetheart Genevieve Wells. They had three children Christopher, Frank and Stephanie.
Ken worked for Standard Oil and owned his own service station in Sonoma for 18 years until retirement. Ken was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, a pilot and a lover of all furry creatures. He lived to entertain and was always quick with a joke, a heartwarming story or life changing advice. He was a people person and treated everyone that he met like they were a part of his family.
Ken was preceded in death by his beloved wife Genevieve, and children Christopher and Stephanie. He is survived by …. His memory lives on in the hearts and minds of everyone who ever met him.
============
Dec 25, 2014, Los Angeles Times excerpts, by David Colker:
Ken Moore, D-Day medic who treated both sides, dies at 90
Kenneth Jack Moore was raised by a single mother and graduated from high school in Redding, California. Soon after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor he joined his buddies in enlisting.
In the middle of one of World War II's bloodiest battles—the 1944 D-Day invasion of western Europe—there was a small sanctuary where no fighting was permitted. Inside a village church in France, two Army medics—Ken Moore and Bob Wright—cared for dozens of wounded soldiers, using the pews as makeshift beds. Mortar blasts rocked the building, but the medics refused to leave, even when told enemy forces were about to overrun the village. With scant supplies, they stayed on to administer aid in the packed church, and not just to Americans. They also treated wounded German soldiers who came to the door seeking help.
Moore volunteered to be a paratrooper and was chosen to be a medic, although he got only about two weeks of medical training. He didn't see any combat until D-Day, June 6, 1944, when he was one of thousands of troops parachuted into France. As a medic, he carried medical supplies, but no weapon. Hitting the ground, he was quickly under fire.
He and Wright, who died last year, commandeered the 12th-century church, designating it as an aid station by hanging a Red Cross banner outside. Wright had more medical training than Moore, but their expertise was limited.
Wright instituted an order that all rifles had to be left outside the door and the injured began streaming in, by themselves or with the help of others. As the wooden pews started to fill, the medics designated an area near the altar for critically injured soldiers they couldn't much help.
In all, Moore and Wright treated more than 80 soldiers, including about a dozen Germans. They were awarded Silver Star medals for their actions, and both served in other battles, including the Battle of the Bulge.
He occasionally returned to Angoville-au-Plain, where bloodstains can still be seen in the church pews, for ceremonies commemorating his and Wright's actions on D-Day.
============
On Dec 13, 2014, Kenneth Moore was honored in a Laying of a Wreath ceremony in front of the Church in Angoville-Au-Plain, Basse-Normandie, France. He and Robert E. Wright are also honored with a monument placed there several years ago. Monument pictured at right
============
Military: WWII: U.S. Army, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, 2nd Battalion, Screaming Eagle Medic
Occupation: Chevron Oil representative, owned gas stations in San Francisco and Sonoma
Married: May 7, 1946, GENEVIEVE WELLS, El Centro, Imperial Co., California
(1926 - 2001)
Three children:
1. Christopher Jay "Chris" MOORE
1946 - 2000
2. Francis Jay "Frank" MOORE
1948 -
Stephanie Virginia MOORE
3. 1951 - 2006
===========
Dec 24, 2014, Sonoma Index Tribune, Sonoma:
Kenneth J. Moore
November 5, 1924 - December 7, 2014
Kenneth J. Moore of Sonoma, California, passed peacefully in his sleep on the 7th of December 2014 at Sonoma Hospital. He was 90 years of age.
Kenneth was born on November 5, 1924 in Los Angeles, CA. After completing high school he enlisted in the Army's 101st Airborne Division where he participated in World War II as a medic. He received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for setting up an aid station in a Normandy church that saved 81 people's lives on D-Day. His heroism is documented in the book Angels of Mercy and the film Eagles of Mercy. After the war, he returned to California and married his high school sweetheart Genevieve Wells. They had three children Christopher, Frank and Stephanie.
Ken worked for Standard Oil and owned his own service station in Sonoma for 18 years until retirement. Ken was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, a pilot and a lover of all furry creatures. He lived to entertain and was always quick with a joke, a heartwarming story or life changing advice. He was a people person and treated everyone that he met like they were a part of his family.
Ken was preceded in death by his beloved wife Genevieve, and children Christopher and Stephanie. He is survived by …. His memory lives on in the hearts and minds of everyone who ever met him.
============
Dec 25, 2014, Los Angeles Times excerpts, by David Colker:
Ken Moore, D-Day medic who treated both sides, dies at 90
Kenneth Jack Moore was raised by a single mother and graduated from high school in Redding, California. Soon after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor he joined his buddies in enlisting.
In the middle of one of World War II's bloodiest battles—the 1944 D-Day invasion of western Europe—there was a small sanctuary where no fighting was permitted. Inside a village church in France, two Army medics—Ken Moore and Bob Wright—cared for dozens of wounded soldiers, using the pews as makeshift beds. Mortar blasts rocked the building, but the medics refused to leave, even when told enemy forces were about to overrun the village. With scant supplies, they stayed on to administer aid in the packed church, and not just to Americans. They also treated wounded German soldiers who came to the door seeking help.
Moore volunteered to be a paratrooper and was chosen to be a medic, although he got only about two weeks of medical training. He didn't see any combat until D-Day, June 6, 1944, when he was one of thousands of troops parachuted into France. As a medic, he carried medical supplies, but no weapon. Hitting the ground, he was quickly under fire.
He and Wright, who died last year, commandeered the 12th-century church, designating it as an aid station by hanging a Red Cross banner outside. Wright had more medical training than Moore, but their expertise was limited.
Wright instituted an order that all rifles had to be left outside the door and the injured began streaming in, by themselves or with the help of others. As the wooden pews started to fill, the medics designated an area near the altar for critically injured soldiers they couldn't much help.
In all, Moore and Wright treated more than 80 soldiers, including about a dozen Germans. They were awarded Silver Star medals for their actions, and both served in other battles, including the Battle of the Bulge.
He occasionally returned to Angoville-au-Plain, where bloodstains can still be seen in the church pews, for ceremonies commemorating his and Wright's actions on D-Day.
============
On Dec 13, 2014, Kenneth Moore was honored in a Laying of a Wreath ceremony in front of the Church in Angoville-Au-Plain, Basse-Normandie, France. He and Robert E. Wright are also honored with a monument placed there several years ago. Monument pictured at right
============