Thomas Hinman Moorer
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Thomas Hinman Moorer | |
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Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross Gray Eagle Award |
Thomas Hinman Moorer (February 9, 1912 – February 5, 2004) was an
External audio | |
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You may watch an interview with Thomas Moorer about his experiences serving during the Vietnam War[3] |
Early life, education, and ancestry
Moorer was born in Mount Willing, Alabama on February 9, 1912. His father, a dentist, named his son for his favorite professor at Atlanta-Southern Dental College, Dr. Thomas Hinman. Moorer was raised in Eufaula, Alabama with his siblings, including his brother Joseph, who would also become a Navy Admiral.
On March 31, 1970 he became a member of the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). He was assigned national SAR member number 99,634 and Alabama Society number 759. He was later awarded the Society's Gold Good Citizenship Medal. He was also a member of the Naval Order of the United States.
Moorer graduated from the
World War II
In addition to his carrier-based fighter experience, Moorer also qualified in
Vietnam War
Promoted to vice admiral in 1962, and to admiral in 1964, Moorer served both as Commander-in-Chief of the
Moorer served as the Chief of Naval Operations between 1967 and 1970, at the height of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and worked closely with the most senior officers in the U.S. Military and Government.[3]
Attack on the USS Liberty
Moorer came to the conclusion that the attack on the USS Liberty in 1967 was a deliberate act on the part of the Israelis and that President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the cover-up to maintain ties with Israel.[8][9] Moorer stated that "Israel attempted to prevent the Liberty's radio operators from sending a call for help by jamming American emergency radio channels.[And that] Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned lifeboats at close range that had been lowered to rescue the most-seriously wounded." Moorer stated that there had been a conspiracy to cover up the event and asked whether "our government put Israel's interests ahead of our own? If so, Why? Does our government continue to subordinate American interests to Israeli interests?"[9] In a 1983 interview, Moorer said: "I've never seen a President - I don't care who he is-stand up to them [the Israelis]. It just boggles your mind.They always get what they want. The Israelis know what is going on all the time. I got to the point where I wasn't writing anything down. If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens don't have any idea what goes on.”[10]
Admiral Moorer was present at the Medal of Honor presentation ceremony for the Liberty’s commanding officer, Captain
Moorer told The Washington Post in 1991: "To suggest that they couldn’t identify the ship is…ridiculous…Anybody who could not identify the Liberty could not tell the difference between the White House and the Washington Monument."[12] Moorer remained an outspoken advocate for Liberty survivors: "It's ridiculous to say this was an accident. There was good weather, she was flying the U.S. flag and the planes and torpedo boats attacked over a long period of time. I think Congress should investigate the incident, even now."[13] Moorer wrote in 1997: "I have never believed that the attack on the USS Liberty was a case of mistaken identity. That is ridiculous. I have flown over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, thousands of hours, searching for ships and identifying all types of ships at sea. The Liberty was the ugliest, strangest-looking ship in the U.S. Navy. As a communications intelligence ship, it was sprouting every kind of antenna. It looked like a lobster with all those projections moving every which way. Israel knew perfectly well that the ship was American."[14]
It took Moorer’s personal intervention to reverse a U.S. Naval Academy decision to not include the names of 2 Liberty crew members who were killed in action on a memorial wall at Bancroft Hall. The crew members in question were Lieutenant Commander Philip Armstrong Jr. and Lieutenant Stephen Toth. Moorer angrily commented on the Academy’s attempt to omit the names: “I intervened and was able to reverse the apparent idea that dying in a cowardly, one-sided attack by a supposed ally is somehow not the same as being killed by an avowed enemy.”[15]
On the 24th anniversary of the attack (in 1991), Moorer attended a ceremony at the
In 2003, Moorer headed an independent commission to investigate the details of the USS Liberty incident.[18] The commission determined, among other things, that the state of Israel had deliberately attacked an American ship in international waters, killing 34 U.S. sailors in the process and perpetrating an act of war. Also participating in the commission was Marine General Raymond G. Davis, Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, and former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James E. Akins. The so-called Moorer Commission submitted their findings to the United States government along with a request for a proper Congressional investigation of the attack. No investigation has been conducted.
Less than a month before his death (in 2004), Moorer made another call for an investigation into the USS Liberty incident and an end to the “disgraceful” cover-up.[19]
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Moorer served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970 until 1974.
While Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Moorer personally masterminded the 1972 mining of
Excerpts from Moorer's diary during his time as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were recently declassified, and includes a note about an Air Force general telling the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a 1971 meeting that in a nuclear war the United States “could lose two hundred million people and still have more than we had at the time of the Civil War.”[20] In December 1972, President Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II, better known as the Christmas Bombings, saying to Moorer on 14 December: "I don't want any more of this crap about the fact that we couldn't hit this target or that one. This is your chance to use military power to win this war, and if you don't, I'll hold you responsible".[21]
While chairman, Moorer was fed a steady diet of confidential documents that had been stolen by a Joint Chiefs of Staff spy ring within the White House overseen by Admiral Robert Welander, the JCS liaison officer to the National Security Council. Welander was supplied with documents stolen by Navy Yeoman Charles Radford from White House desks and burn bags and the briefcases of Henry Kissinger and Gen. Alexander Haig, among other places in the White House. The spy ring operated for about 13 months before being uncovered by Nixon aide John Ehrlichman. Welander and Radford admitted to the thefts, felonies under the Espionage Act. Welander and Radford eventually were transferred to remote military outposts. Attorney General John Mitchell informed Moorer that the administration knew of the spy ring, but Nixon, apparently concerned about the potential political fallout, ordered that no prosecution take place.[2]
Upon completion of his second two-year term as CJCS, Moorer retired from the Navy on July 1, 1974.
Death and legacy
In an interview with the journalist Stanley Karnow in 1981, Moorer expressed much bitterness about how the Vietnam War was fought, saying: "We should have fought in the north, where everyone was the enemy, where you didn't have to worry whether or not you were shooting friendly civilians. In the south, we had to cope with women concealing grenades in their brassieres, or in their baby's diapers. I remember two of our Marines being killed by a youngster who they were teaching to play volleyball. But Lyndon Johnson didn't want to overthrow the North Vietnamese government. Well, the only reason to go to war is to overthrow a government you don't like".[22]
Moorer died on February 5, 2004, at the
The National Guard Armory (Fort Thomas H. Moorer Armory) in Fort Deposit, Alabama is named after Moorer, as is a middle school in Eufaula, Alabama.[24]
Dates of rank
Ensign | Lieutenant (junior grade) | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Commander
|
Commander | Captain
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 |
June 1, 1933 | June 1, 1936 | November 23, 1940 | October 1, 1942 | April 27, 1944 | January 1, 1952 |
Rear Admiral (lower half) | Rear Admiral (upper half) | Vice Admiral
|
Admiral |
---|---|---|---|
O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 |
Never held | August 1, 1958 | October 5, 1962 | June 26, 1964 |
- At the time of Admiral Moorer's promotion, all rear admirals wore two stars, but the rank was divided into an "upper" and "lower half" for pay purposes
Awards and decorations
U.S. military personal decorations, unit awards, campaign awards
Naval Aviator badge
| |
Defense Distinguished Service Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster[26] | |
award stars[26]
| |
Army Distinguished Service Medal[26]
| |
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal[26]
| |
Silver Star[26] | |
Legion of Merit[26] | |
Distinguished Flying Cross[26] | |
Purple Heart | |
Presidential Unit Citation with one service star | |
China Service Medal | |
A Device
| |
American Campaign Medal | |
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two stars
| |
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
| |
World War II Victory Medal | |
Navy Occupation Service Medal with Europe and Asia Clasps | |
National Defense Service Medal with bronze star | |
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal | |
Vietnam Service Medal with one service star | |
Philippine Defense Medal | |
Vietnam Campaign Medal |
Foreign orders and decorations
He also has been decorated by thirteen foreign governments:
- Military Order of Aviz, Grand Cross);[27]
- Greece (Silver Star Medal, First Class);
- Japan (Order of Double Rays of the Rising Sun)
- Japan (First Class of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun);
- Republic of China (Precious Tripod (Pao-Ting) Medal with Red Grand Cordon)
- Republic of China (Order of Cloud and Banner (Yun Hui) with Special Grand Cordon);
- Philippine Legion of Honor (Rank of Commander)
- Brazil (Order of the Naval Merit, Grande Official);
- Chile (Gran Estrella al Merito Militar);
- Venezuela (Order of Naval Merit 1st Class);
- Republic of Korea (Order of National Security Merit, 1st Class);
- Netherlands (Grand Cross, Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords);
- Order of Merit);
- Italy (Military Order of Italy, Knight of the Grand Cross);
- Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit);
- Norway (Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav).
Civilian awards
- Stephen Decatur Award for Operational Competence by the Navy League of the United States (May 1964)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree awarded by Auburn University (1968)
- General William Mitchell Award, Wings Club of New York City (February 1968)
- Member, Alabama Academy of Honor (August 1969)
- Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree awarded by Samford University (May 1970)
- Frank M. Hawks Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Development of Aviation by the American Legion Air Service Post 501, New York City (January 1971)
- The Gray Eagle Award presented at the Washington Navy Yard (June 29, 1972)
- Gold Good Citizenship Medal, Sons of the American Revolution
- National Aviation Hall of Fame[28] (1987)
- The Lone Sailor Award by the U. S. Navy Memorial Foundation (1989)
- The National Football Foundation Gold Medal(1990)
- The Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame (2018)
References
- ^ a b "Moorer Thomas H Obit". www.history.navy.mil. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-62779-083-3.
- ^ a b c d "WGBH Open Vault – Interview with Thomas H. Moorer, 1981". wgbh.org.
- ^ "VPNAVY – VP-22 History Summary Page – VP Patrol Squadron". vpnavy.org.
- ISBN 0-87021-086-6, p. 202-206.
- ^ Gibson & Gibson 2008, p. 171, fn 7.
- ^ "Ex-Navy Official: 1967 Israeli Attack on U.S. Ship Was Deliberate". Foxnews.com. Associated Press. 2003-10-23. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
- ^ a b Thomas Moorer (11 January 2004). "Betrayal behind Israeli attack on U.S. ship". Houston Chronicle.
- ISBN 978-1556524820.
- ^ Thurber, Jon (1999-03-11). "Capt. William McGonagle; Won Medal of Honor After Israelis Attacked Ship". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ^ a b McAllister, Bill (15 June 1991). "Spy Ship Brought In From the Cold". The Washington Post.
- ^ Ennes, James. "USS Liberty: Eyewitness Account". History News Network. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "Memorandum To: AMEU From: Admiral Thomas H. Moorer Subject: Attack on the USS Liberty". Retrieved 20 March 2023.[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Thomas Moorer Letter of June 8, 1997". www.la.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ^ ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ^ https://www.usslibertyveterans.org/pdfs/LVANewsletter2017-04.pdf
- ^ https://www.usslibertyveterans.org/files/documentcenter/USS%20Liberty%20Document%20Center/usslibertydocumentcenter.org/doc/upload/Independent_Commission_Israeli_Attack_USS_Liberty.pdf
- ^ MOORER, ADM THOMAS (2004-01-11). "Betrayal behind Israeli attack on U.S. ship". Chron. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ^ William Burr, ed. (February 15, 2017). "Top Air Force Official Told JCS in 1971: "We Could Lose Two Hundred Million People [in a Nuclear War] and Still Have More Than We Had at the Time of the Civil War". National Security Archive. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- ^ Karnow 1983, p. 652.
- ^ Karnow 1983, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Burial Detail: Moorer, Thomas H – ANC Explorer
- ^ "ADM Thomas Hinman Moorer". Military Hall of Honor.
- ISBN 978-1480200203.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Thomas Hinman Moorer". Hall of Valor. Military Times. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ^ "Cidadãos Estrangeiros Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". presidencia.pt – Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas.
- ^ "Enshrinee Thomas Moorer". nationalaviation.org. National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
Bibliography
- Gibson, Charles Dana; Gibson, E. Kay (July 2008), "Attempts to Supply The Philippines by Sea: 1942" (PDF), The Northern Mariner, XVIII (3/4): 163, S2CID 247350567
- Karnow, Stanley (1983). Vietnam: A History. Viking. ISBN 0-1400-7324-8.
- Stillwell, Paul (1981). Air Raid: Pearl Harbor! Recollections of a Day of Infamy. US Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-086-6.
- Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) (February 5, 2004). "Death of Retired U.S. Navy Adm. Thomas M. Moorer" (Press release). U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2005-03-24.
- Clarence A. (Mark) Hill Jr (24 February 2004). "Thomas Hinman Moorer". Archived from the original on 2004-12-05. Retrieved 2005-03-24.