|
PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) - When Ulvert M. ''Fuzzy'' Moore left Bluefield for World War II, he gave his then fianc Dee a fraternity pin to remember him by.
He joined the U.S. Navy Reserve after graduating from West Virginia University, where he joined the Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Moore was called to active duty and assigned to Torpedo Squadron 8 on the aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. He was killed in action during the Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942.
Many World War II scholars think the Battle of Midway represented a pivotal moment in the war, and Torpedo Squadron 8 played a key role in the battle.
It turns out, so did Moore.
In the summer of 2003, Bill Blankenship, secretary/treasurer of Mercer County's Those Who Served War Museum, received a letter from a North Carolina woman who wanted to donate an item to the museum.
''If you have a war museum, I have something that should be placed there,'' Catherine (Dunn) Hall wrote. ''Fuzzy Moore of Bluefield was a war hero of World War II. He was my fianc De and was killed at the Battle of Midway.''
Hall wrote that the Navy named a destroyer escort for Moore, and that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's son commanded the USS Ulvert M. Moore. ''There was great publicity about these pilots,'' Hall wrote.
''I have in my possession Fuzzy's fraternity pin which he gave me before he left,'' Hall wrote. I have kept it all these years and cherished it. I am now old and in failing health. I want his fraternity pin placed with other symbols of war heroes of World War II before I die.''
About a month after Hall's letter, war museum officials received the pin and a letter from Roy G. Hall Jr., a Pfafftown, N.C., attorney.
''The irreplaceable item is the Kappa Alpha fraternity pin which he made into a bracelet for Catherine Dunn of Bluefield, Va., circa 1941,'' Hall wrote on behalf of Mrs. Hall.
''They wanted him to be recognized,'' Tony Whitlow, president of the museum said. ''Just the thought that she had kept it all those years as a cherished possession makes it very special.''
Whitlow said the Moore story was already featured prominently in the museum, and when Whitlow received a telephone call from historical researcher and novelist Robert Mrazek, who is working on a book about Torpedo Squadron 8, he was able to supply the New York writer with information.
In the meantime, Heber Stafford, one of Moore's classmates, gathered additional information to send to Mrazek to aid in the writers understanding of the subject.
''I'm just honored that he would think enough about Bluefield to contact us for information,'' Stafford said.
|
