When his country called, Vaughn Moore answered.
A student at N.C. State University in 1942, Moore left school to enter the Army Air Corps. He came out of training at Army Air Forces Pilot School in Moultrie, Ga. with a second lieutenant’s commission.
His 405th Fighter Group — with Moore in a P-47 Thunderbolt, equipped with wing-mounted .50-caliber guns — was called on when times were toughest.
With the 101st Airborne surrounded at Bastogne and Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army unable to break through the German lines in December 1944, the heavy winter weather finally cleared up. That allowed the 405th to get its planes in the air and help make a difference at a turning point in the war.
“We finished it up,” Moore said.
By the end of the war in Europe, he’d seen seven Luftwaffe pilots arrive on an American airfield within German borders, attempting to escape the Soviets on the Eastern Front. One man even brought his wife to the American lines.
And, by that time, Moore earned a promotion to first lieutenant. In all of his time in harm’s way, though, Moore said it wasn’t possible to be worried.
“You really don’t have time to think about it — too much going on,” Moore said.
After war, Moore returned to North Carolina and became a reservist.
“I had several different Reserve assignments, and it seemed like the assignments ran out, and I read that the Air Force Academy — which was brand-new then — was looking for some retired officers, reserve officers, to work what they called an ‘Academy liaison,’ ” Moore said. “So, I applied for that and got the job, for which I worked Eastern North Carolina.”
For decades, Moore would work with high school guidance counselors to find prospective Air Force cadets and help them in being qualified and getting nominated to the Academy. From there, he kept up with the cadets as much as their busy schedules at the Academy allowed him.
“I retired from that, when I had to retire from the service,” Moore said. “I had my 30 years, but then I stayed on a little more after that — they asked me to stay, in a volunteer capacity.”
And when that time was done, a friend asked Moore if he’d like to help out at the pharmacy at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro. He spent 17 years working with active-duty personnel and veterans, staying active as long as his body allowed.
It was only when he couldn’t walk anymore did he stop working at the pharmacy and moved into the N.C. State Veterans Home.
Moore retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.
Breakout Box
Name: Vaughn Moore
Rank: Lieutenant colonel, retired
Branch: Army, Air Force
Interesting fact: Moore’s unit in World War II, the 405th Fighter Group, received a Distinguished Unit Citation providing air support for the Third Army during a major tank battle, in harsh conditions, over France on Sept. 24, 1944.