Ukiah veteran to be honored

UHS grad Michael Robert Moore one of 591 honorees

Nearly 600 Vietnam veterans, including 27 from California, one a Ukiah High graduate, will be inducted into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s (VVMF) In Memory Program for 2020. The program honors Vietnam veterans whose lives were cut short as a result of their service after they returned home from Vietnam.

On Oct. 15, 2021, VVMF will host its 2020 In Memory ceremony on the East Knoll of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the nation’s capital, where the names of each of the 591 honorees for 2020 will be read aloud. The ceremony was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The plaque that honors these veterans was dedicated as a part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in 2004. It reads: In memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.

One Vietnam Veteran being inducted into the In Memory Program is a former Ukiah resident, Michael Robert Moore.

Moore was born Oct. 16, 1947 in Ukiah. He graduated from Ukiah High School and then went on to Cal State Sacramento. He then went on to join the United States Air Force and was stationed in Vietnam in 1971-72. He passed away from Agent Orange complications in July of 2017.

When asked, his widow, Betty Moore, discussed finding out he was being inducted. “Well he passed away in 2017 and we could have applied in 2018 or 2019 but weren’t sure we would be able to make the ceremony and then Covid hit in 2020 and things were shut down. We were finally able to apply and he was accepted.”

Moore’s reaction when finding out he was accepted, “I was very proud. I also thought it was an appropriate thing to be inducted into. Michael probably wouldn’t have wanted it done and not have all the fuss about it but I think it was very appropriate. He wouldn’t have hated it, just didn’t want all the fuss about him.”