From Pine Ridge to the Pacific - and home to Beaver Valley

by Larry Miller

As we remember our military veterans -- both living and deceased -- this seems like a good time to share the story of Sergeant Fae V. Moore, USMC.

Sergeant Moore was killed on the tiny atoll of Tarawa in the central Pacific nearly 73 years ago this month.  While his story is similar to so many others who served and gave their lives in defense of our country, his is particularly meaningful to folks in western Nebraska and South Dakota where he grew up.

When I was asked by Sergeant Moore's nephew to research and write this story, it was an easy decision.   As a youngster, I lived next door to Fae Moore's mother, Mary Moore, but I was too young to comprehend the grief with which she was stricken when her youngest son was killed during World War II.

Mrs. Moore went to her own grave in 1958, never to see her son — or his remains — return home for burial. Although too late for her, the discovery, identification, and repatriation of her Marine son in 2016 offered a bit of closure to Moore family members who knew little about him, but who recently joined together in celebrating his life and service to our country.

When Fae Moore enlisted in the Marines, his home was listed as "Pine Ridge, South Dakota."  He spent much of his youth working on ranches in Nebraska and later in South Dakota.

We invite you to read the Fae Moore story and his Return to Beaver Valley.