Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Marine Greets Farmington
FARMINGTON — Sgt. Maj. Henry Moore, a 1988 graduate of Farmington High School, returned last week to the community, he became endeared to, as an inspirational guest speaker.
During the school’s annual Veterans Day program held Friday at Cardinal Arena, Moore was introduced by his brother, Farmington assistant principal Clayton Williams, who said, “We’re very proud to always have veterans back, but I am proud of him for his passion for this community, for his love for this school, for his service as a veteran, for his service as a police officer… but I’m most proud of this man cause he’s my brother.”
After graduation, Moore enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was stationed
in the Philippines until he was deployed in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Moore left active duty in 1992 to attend the University of Arkansas and later resumed his military career in the Marine Reserves in 1993. Moore has been deployed to Operation Natural Fire in Kenya and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. His personal decorations include two Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medals, four Navy Achievement Medals, one Army Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, two Armed Forces Reserve Medals, and seven Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medals. Moore also earned the Combat Action Ribbon.
He has worked with the Little Rock Police Department for 21 years and is currently assigned with the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) training division. Moore is a former President of the Arkansas Tactical Officers Association and while on the police force also serves with the USMC 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company out of Mobile, Ala.
Moore spoke about leadership as he addressed students from seventh-grade through high school.
“I want to thank the staff here at Farmington,” Moore said. “It is one of the greatest honors to come back to my alma mater and to share some of my experiences and to be able to stand in front of such great Americans and be able to talk about what service is. I want to thank the veterans that are here today. Over the next couple of days you’re probably going to see a lot of stuff on social media about ‘Thank you for your service.’ Well, I want to take that a step further and talk about ‘Thank you for your sacrifice,’ both physically and emotionally.”
Moore was born in Fayetteville. When he was 2 years old the family moved to Houston, Texas. When he was 10, his parents divorced. Moore lived with his father, who succumbed to emphysema bronchitis two days before Christmas when Moore was 12. His mother took custody of Moore and his twin brother. They moved to a rough neighborhood in north Houston where four months later Moore’s twin brother and a friend were playing with a .22 pistol.
“As I’m walking in the door I see my brother get shot. And he says, ‘I’ve been shot,’ and he hits the ground…,” Moore recalled.
The responsibility of dialing 9-1-1 fell on him. The police response influenced Moore’s interest in law enforcement.
“You could not look any direction and not see blue,” Moore said. “And so they brought this calm to this chaos.”
His twin brother was transported to a waiting helicopter and he didn’t make it to the helicopter. Moore’s grandmother, who lived in Farmington, came to Houston and said, “I’ve had it, I’m done. I’ve lost a son-in-law, I’ve lost a grandson, and he’s coming with me.”
After finishing out the school year in Houston, Moore flew from Houston to Tulsa, Okla., and came to Farmington.
“And that’s when I joined this tribe,” Moore said, describing the community. “I call it a tribe cause it’s a tribe of warriors. So what I want to do now is talk about leadership and what makes this community strong and a lot of the leaders within this community are veterans.”
Moore covered Marine Corps tradition by examining the language of promotion warrants and how to handle personal crisis, then wrapped up his speech by saying, “Farmington, I love you; and that’s one of the things that as a leader you have to learn to love. Leadership at its core is, my marines don’t work for me, I work for them…Leadership is not power, it’s responsibility. So, learn to love.”
Moore emphasized that leadership is a gift “whether you’re the football captain or first chair in the band or on the Quiz Bowl team, you’re the leader and so you’ve got to set the example.”
“Leadership is not power, it’s responsibility. So, learn to love.”
Sgt. Maj. Henry Moore
U.S. Marine Corps