Moore is remembered as the lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War.

[5] Because he was interested in obtaining an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and felt his chances were better if he lived in a larger city, he left Kentucky at the age of seventeen before finishing high school and got a job in Washington, D.C., working in the U.S. Senate book warehouse[citation needed].

[7] Moore attended George Washington University at night for two years, working at his warehouse job while waiting on an appointment to West Point.

After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation authorizing each senator and representative to make additional appointments to the military and naval academies, Moore was offered an appointment to the United States Naval Academy by Representative Ed Creal of the 4th Congressional District of Kentucky.

Creal agreed, and Moore soon found Representative Eugene Cox of Georgia's 2nd Congressional District, who had an open appointment to West Point.

[7][8] Moore received his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy shortly after the United States entered into World War II.

He reported to West Point for "Reception Day" on July 15, 1942, and the summer training referred to as "Beast Barracks" held before the formal academic school term took up in the fall.

[9] Although Moore did well in most of his classes, he was academically deficient in the required math subjects and he had to redouble his efforts to absorb the engineering, physics and chemistry, often studying two or three hours past lights out to memorize the material.

This observation caused Moore to lead a student's life at West Point devoted to studying, with few extracurricular activities.

[9] In his second year at the academy, he studied more complicated subjects like calculus, electrical engineering, thermodynamics and historic military campaigns.

[4][9] His final academic year was spent studying military history and tactics as the war was winding down in Europe.

[15][16] In 1951, amidst the Korean War (1950–1953), he was ordered to Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Officer's Advanced Course, which would prepare him to command a company or to serve on a battalion staff.

[19]) During this assignment, Moore took a personal interest in the battles between the French Army forces and the Việt Minh at Điện Biên Phủ in Vietnam.

[20] In 1956, Moore was assigned to attend the year-long student course at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

[25] The "Garry Owen" Brigade left Fort Benning August 14, 1965, and went to South Vietnam by way of the Panama Canal aboard USNS General Maurice Rose, arriving at the Division's An Khê Base Camp a month later.

Encircled by enemy soldiers with no clear landing zone that would allow them to leave, Moore managed to persevere despite being significantly outnumbered by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces that engaged the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, only two-and-a-half miles away the next day.

[4] After the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, Moore was promoted to colonel and took over the command of the Garry Owen (3rd) Brigade.

He then helped draft the Army plan for the withdrawal of two brigades of the 9th Infantry Division to the United States as a part of the Vietnamization of the war effort.

He was charged by General John H. Michaelis, commander, United States Forces Korea, with cleaning up the drug abuse problem and racial strife that were prevalent at the time in the 7th Division.

He dealt with army recruiting issues after the termination of the draft, as well as the orderly reduction of forces after the close of the Vietnam War.

[45] He was buried in Fort Moore Main Post Cemetery on February 17, 2017, with full military honors and laid to rest beside his wife of 55 years who died in 2004.

In his January 11, 1968, letter to the Army Adjutant General, he provided this rationale, "I have great respect for the Purple Heart Medal and would be proud to wear it if I consider it were fully earned by me in the future.