Moore, Bryant Edward.

Back to all people
armygeneralpurple heart

Moore, Bryant Edward, born 06-06-1894 in Ellsworth, Maine, United States to Edward Grafton Moore and Nettie, born Haley Moore  He had three, children John Leroy Moore, Margaret Moore Coolidge and James Moore.  His father ran and then later owned Moore’s Pharmacy on the corner of Water Street and Main Street in Ellsworth. The family home was on State Street, located on the hill across from the First Congregational Church. He graduated from Ellsworth High School and was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, where he graduated in August 1917.

Moore was fluent in French and served as an instructor in the Department of Modern Languages at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, from 1925 to 1929. He graduated from the Infantry School Commanding Officers’ Course in 1930 and the Command and General Staff School in 1939.

In the early days of World War II, Colonel Moore commanded the 164th Infantry Regiment on Guadalcanal. After promotion to the general officer rank of Brigadier General, he later fought with the 104th Infantry Division under command of Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen as the assistant division commander (ADC). Bryant was later promoted again and commanded the 8th Infantry Division in Europe. Under his command, the division liberated the Neuengamme concentration camp. Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, the Neuengamme camp became the largest concentration camp in Northwest Germany. Over 100,000 prisoners came through Neuengamme and its subcamps, 24 of which were for women. The verified death toll is 42,900: 14,000 in the main camp, 12,800 in the subcamps, and 16,100 in the death marches and bombings during the final weeks of World War II. Following Germany’s defeat in 1945, the British Army used the site as an internment camp for SS and other Nazi officials.

In late 1945 Moore commanded the 88th Infantry Division in Austria until it was inactivated in 1947.

In the immediate post-war period, he commanded the occupation of Yugoslavia, holding Trieste, successfully keeping out Josip Broz Tito‘s  troops. His wartime promotion to Major General was made permanent on 27-01-1949. From 1949 until 1951, Moore was superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

During the Korean War, under General Matthew Bunker Ridgway, one of his classmates from the West Point class of 1917, he led the IX Corps in Operations Thunderbolt, Killer and Ripper.

Death and burial ground of Moore, Bryant Edward.

 

It was during these operations that Moore’s helicopter crashed into the Han River near Yeoju. He died 04-02-1950, age 56, a few hours later from an apparent heart attack after having gotten help for the surviving pilot and crew, The account of his service to America was entered into the United States Congressional Record by Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith. Moore was promoted to the rank of four-star General posthumously.

Moore was buried in the cemetery of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on the Hudson River in New York, his body being one of the first to be repatriated to American soil during a war.

Bryant Moore married the former Margaret “Peggy” King, also from Ellsworth, and they had two daughters, Margaret and Barbara “Pete” Moore Kuby.

Message(s), tips or interesting graves for the webmaster:    robhopmans@outlook.com

Share on :

end

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *