Bio, Moore, Thomas

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2022.

SYNOPSIS: On October 31, 1965, four U.S. Air Force personnel were captured
while traveling by truck from Vung Tau to Saigon. This incident occurred on
Route 15 at grid coordinates YS224805, just on the border of Binh Hoa and
Gia Dinh Provinces of South Vietnam. The individuals involved in this
incident are SSgt. Samuel Adams, SSgt. Charles Dusing, TSgt. Thomas Moore,
and SSgt, Jasper Page.

On November 2, 1965, while being taken to a detention camp, Jasper Page,
managed to escape and return to U.S. control. It was reported that Samuel
Adams had been shot during the same escape that freed Page, but a defector
identified Adams' photo as a prisoner at a later date. CIA's analysis of
this identification has been inconclusive. The names of all three appeared
on the died in captivity list furnished by the Provisional Revolutionary
Government (PRG) in 1973 at the Paris Peace Accords. The list reflected that
they had died during December 1965, but no details were given.

When 591 Americans were released at the end of the war in 1973, Adams, Dusing
and Moore were not among them; their names were on a list. No bodies were
returned to their families, even though the Vietnamese clearly know where to
find the three men. Since that time, Vietnam has doled out handfuls of remains
as the political atmosphere seemed appropriate, but Adams, Dusing and Moore
remain unaccounted for.

The three are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Indochina.
Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Tragically, over 8000 reports concerning Americans still in Southeast Asia have
been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Experts say that the
evidence is overwhelming that Americans were left behind in enemy hands. It's
time we brought our men home.

I am looking for anyone who may have served in Vietnam in 65 at Tan Son Nuit, An Ho
may have known my father, Thomas Moore whose incident is 10-31-65 ....

From: "Moore, Nora D Ms EAMC"
To: "'info@pownetwork.org'" <info@pownetwork.org>
Subject: I wrote this last night, it came all of a sudden and i wanted to
share it
Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 08:20:37 -0400

I am the daughter of a forgotten HERO. I am the daughter of an Airman who
gave his life and his freedom for me.

In the most feeble attempts of writing this I can only hope that when
someone reads it that they attempt to understand my feelings, I can not
write for my sisters, I can not write for the other children of war, I can
however bring to the fore front the differences between Killed in Action and
Missing in Action.

There are many Americans who do not have the littlest idea of what it is
like to try to comprehend what war does to children, from the smallest
toddler to the oldest child who tries to understand why my daddy went away.

I have wonderful friends who know what it is like to loose a parent, many
whose parent was lost to heart attacks, car crashes, and suicides. These
friends and I acknowledge each other's lost and understand the loneliness of
being without mom or dad. However there are only a few of us who understand
those loses coming from war. We all share in the same questions, the same
heartaches, and the same wishes. The biggest shared question being the "What
If".

I have read so many stories from the Children of the Wall, Children of the
Vietnam War dead. The ones whose names are forever carved into black
granite. Well over 58,000 names of men and women, who stand vigil night and
day to remind those who pass in front of them That Freedom has a price, and
that price is not money, but blood of fellow Americans.

Reading stories from Vets, history and other materials is what has educated
us to believe many things about Vietnam. Some good and some bad. Movies have
done the same.

I was a young girl of 11 when my dad went into his Missing in Action status.
Later it was confirmed that enemy forces while returning to base after a
24-hour pass had captured him and three of his friends.

My dad and the others in the wrong place at the wrong time. No way to defend
themselves, nor did they have the chance.

Years have gone by, which in turn have turned in to decades. My sisters and
I have families of our own, and my father has grandchildren and a great
grand son. Yet there is still the man who is Missing.

I remember like other children of our time the Yellow Cab delivering the
telegram, the one that makes mom cry out a very heart-breaking sob.

And the other words depending on the status were either, your husband has
been Killed in Action or is Missing in Action.

This is where my story will differ from other Sons and Daughters of the
Vietnam war, except for a small number. As you see there are less that 2,000
men still listed now has Missing in Action. So that means we MIA kids are
very few, the forgotten ones.

What do you mean my daddy is missing, and why can't they find him. How do
you lose a grown up man, . This followed me all my life, even after growing
up , it is hard to understand why my dad and the other MIA's cannot be
accounted for. And it is really hard to understand if it is the men who were
last seen alive.

Yet there is no body to bury, there is no funeral, there is not a grave to
visit, there is nothing. NO closure.

We were and are still expected to take the harsh reality of our dads Missing
in Action and to get on with our life's. And WE DID. With little of no help
from any one but our moms and each other , but the each other only came
after we were grown.

Our country was torn apart by Vietnam, our flag was burned by Americans, men
and women protested our presence in South East Asia, some dodged the draft,
and those who went to served were spat upon when they returned,. They were
called baby killers, and no one wanted any thing to do with them, no ticker
tape parades no welcome homes.

Coffins with flags draped on them returned to American soil and the children
grieved, and said good-bye to daddy.

Yet those whose bodies did not come home were never thought about except by
the families and friends. There were those who were Killed in Action bodies
not recovered or returned but evidence to the fact that they indeed were
killed. Those families are like us MIA families. They have the that same
haunting feeling, could my dad still be really alive.

Telegrams came, in the thousands, widows were made, and children grew up to
fast.

My mom got hers, and I grew up, the oldest of three girls is not easy. My
Christmas's Turned into learning how to put toys together, and wrap gives
that Santa is supposed to do.

I even learned how to change fuses at 11, and by the time I was 14 I could
change the oil in the car.

Yet I was protected somewhat by my mom, she did a great job raising my
sisters and me, the best she could do. Yet she could not stop those who told
me my dad was also a baby killer, who spat on my sisters, and me or who told
me my dad deserved everything he got.

That is hard to understand when you are a little girl, still hard for me to
understand now.

Plus mom told us to not talk about dads case, as she said it might not be
good for those men who are POW's and if daddy is a POW we don't want to
jeopardize his coming home.

Neither was it a good idea to talk with men who had been over there because
we don't what to upset them. Whether or not those men were uncles or even
cousins.

Now years later we have talked with the men who served and came home , we
learned about our dads, and we learned about Vietnam. The men were just as
glad to talk as we were to listen.

Yet there is still a difference in the MIA kid, we talk to the Vets, we
listen to them, we ask them questions and they help a lot.

We share our stories with others , but our dad's stories are as some would
like to say still to political. So not to many people will ask us to speak
at functions, yet we still hear, get over it.

We truly have no real place in the Vietnam organizations out there, and
don't get me wrong, there are a few that we belong to. Yet I can truthfully
say there is fewer that really recognizes who we are. There are those who
say that they are working towards the POW MIA issue , but only use it to
benefit them when it is needed.

No one knows what it is like to live year after year wondering where is my
dad but the MIA child, no one can even come near telling me they understand
unless it is another MIA kid.

No one but the MIA child or family member knows what the Missing Man
Formation means unless you lost your dad to a plane crash some where and his
remains were never found, or a small hand full of broken fragments comes
decades later. No on but the MIA child or family member understands the
Table Ceremony for the POW MIA , no one but the loved one who sits in
silence with a tear as the meaning is read.

To feel happiness and jealously at the same time is another feeling that is
something we deal with , happiness when another MIA is found , recovered,
and returned to his home land and to his children and loved one, jealousy
when you want so much to be standing the same way, Watching a flag draped
coffin being so gently carried to a final resting place ,wishing it was your
turn to say good-bye.

To my fellow MIA sisters and Brothers, we are very special, we are children
who have kept the eternal flame alive that our dads gave us when he became
our dad.

Our dads may have been forgotten, by the general population, and we may but
a few, but we have a voice and we have the time to make sure we continue the
legacy our moms put before us.

Diane Moore
Proud Daughter of
CMSGT THOMAS MOORE-USAF
POW-MIA unaccounted for October 31 1965

Thomas Moore was the only T/sgt at the time of the capture, the others were
S/sgt. Of course all of their ranks are now CMS(E9). And of course Jasper
Page is a retiree.

From: "Diane" <powmiadaughter@bellsouth.net>
To: <cfries@arrowheadfilms.com>
Subject: Dads case
Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:58:25 -0400

After a long time of waiting and instance, during the annual National League
of POW MIA family meetings last week in DC. It looks like it is finally
going to take place. It has been scheduled that the POSSIBLE burial site in
the investigations on dad and the other two is to be excavated next spring
,With the date of March/April time frame. Will keep all posted on the
situation as i learn . Just wanted to let friends and family know so that
the prayers can hopefully bring us our long desired dream of bringing daddy
home

================
From: "Diane" <powmiadaughter@bellsouth.net>
Subject: In the news,
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 02:10:46 -0500

The below link will take you to a video. that was shown on NBC. Chris almost
didn't see it as he was getting ready for work this evening and listening to
the TV and got it when a reporter began talking about 4 captured Americans
in Vietnam in 1965, that one escaped, and the other 3 had been shot.

I had no idea it was being done as I had been told the excavation was on to
be done in the spring. By the time I got to the bedroom and caught the last
part they were showing the screening 1/4 inch screens, and the name of the
area they were doing this dig in was the Dong Nai Provience. TADA.
it gives no names, but beyound a shadow of a doubt that are talking about
daddy's case.

BAM BAM, i guess JPAC doesn't think families watch news and can put 2+2
together enough to figure our loved one's site when it is shown on TV
national news stories. You'd think that they could give us just a little
call or email and tell us. So it doesn't have the shocking tazor effect.

Any way they are digging, and please keep this team in your prayers , for
their safety and for our luck. And that this hard work will yield this
precious treasure that they are seeking. That this ground will give us what
is left of daddy, and the others.

=============================
From: "Diane" <powmiadaughter@bellsouth.net>
Subject: NBC follows through/excavation
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 23:56:27 -0500

As most of you know NBC aired the excavation process of a possible burial
site in Vietnam on November 18th. This story was done with knowledge to our
family or the families of the other men who were with my dad when the were
captured in 1965. Many of you have seen the footage. It was very well done.

I contacted the Air Force on Monday morning asking why we the family had
not been told. The Air Force themselves did not know. But assured me they
would follow through and have answers for me as soon as they could get them
from officials in Hawaii. ( which is 6 hours behind). I thank them, and
told them I would also be working with sources to find out why a news event
had covered this important detail on my father which I had been told was
scheduled for Spring 2007. And why we were not told of a media event .

I began the investigative process and also contacted NBC. By the afternoon
on Monday, I had spoken with government officials and was told policies were
followed, no names had been used and even though the case was unique and the
only one like it in the entire Vietnam War, families did not have to be
informed. Nor was it policy to inform families of changes in excavations ,
schedules or what is happening during the excavation. Even though they knew
we would know it was our loved ones case.

By then NBC and I have communicated. and they have become interested in the
whole story. and wanted to do a follow through, which took place last night.

It is my hopes as I have told them that our family was extremely upset in
how this was handled. We as families should be allowed to be given the right
to choose to be notified of pending excavations and what is happening during
them. the PNOK's (primary next of kin) often makes choices that is difficult
to say the least , but when it becomes national or international knowledge
then family should be informed first.

On Sunday evening Dec. 3rd at 630pm eastern time, my interview with NBC will
air.

I hope it will give in the spirit for all the families as well as for my
family and the other 2 families involved in our unique case of our fathers
how we felt when we saw the excavation on National TV first. I know speaking
with Sam Adams Jr. and I were saying the same words at the same time.

love to all of you who fight for the POW MIA issue and who have family
members still unaccounted for.

------------------------------------------
From: "Diane" <powmiadaughter@bellsouth.net>
To: "P.O.W. Network - Chuck and Mary Schantag" <info@pownetwork.org>
Subject: Don't remember if I sent these or not
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:36:17 -0500

I am not sure if I sent these to you while things were hot. But now that
things have quieted down a bit I remembered I needed to check to see if you
all knew what had happened.

On Nov 18th. Chris called out to me to hurry to the bedroom. It looked like
they were excavating my dads site. Low and behold yep they were doing the
proposed area in questioned. The one I have been so hard to fight for. And
finally got a date at the last League meetings in June for schedule for
Spring 2007.

Not one word to any one of the three families involved in the case the
below clip showed on NBC nightly news.

The day was a Sat. and of course I was not going to find any one until
Monday. When I called the USAF, they were as clueless as I was. But
informed me I would get my answers by the afternoon.

The short of it, from the Government in high places. Being that no names
were used, all polices were followed. And an "We're sorry".

By midweek i had also contacted NBC through email and they kindly contacted
me, with such kindness and apologies I was truly taken aback.

They became very interested in the daughter side of the story and sent a
crew from Atlanta to do a follow up to the first piece.

Updated: 6:26 PM Sep 18, 2009

POW-MIA Remembrance Day held at Fort Gordon

Woman keeps the memory of her missing father alive

It's a ceremony about recognition and respect for the U.S. military. Friday is National POW-MIA Recognition Day. Diane Moore was at the ceremony. Her father has been missing for 44 years.

Posted: 6:11 PM Sep 18, 2009
Reporter: Melissa Tune
Email Address: melissa.tune@wrdw.com

News 12 First at Five, September 18,2009

FORT GORDON, Ga. --- It's a ceremony about recognition and respect for the U.S. military. Friday is National POW-MIA Recognition Day.

Diane Moore was at the ceremony. Her father has been missing for 44 years......

May 29, 2022, 1:43 PM Diane Moore wrote:

Just wanted to share a few photos of a ball game the recognized Gold Star families last night for Memorial Day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CMSGT THOMAS MOORE

Return to Service Member Profiles

Conflict
Service
Status

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
Unaccounted For

On October 31, 1965, four U.S. service members returning from a rest and relaxation break in Vung Tau, South Vietnam, were riding in a truck with a Vietnamese driver. While en route to Saigon, the truck was stopped by local communist guerilla forces and the four U.S. service members were captured. On November 2, while being moved to an enemy prisoner of war camp, two of the four men attempted to escape; one was wounded and recaptured by the guards, but the other successfully escaped and returned to U.S. control two days later. Upon his return, air and ground search efforts were launched for the other three men but without success. In January 1973, the names of the three men who did not escape appeared on the died-in-captivity list released by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, and their remains have not been returned.

Technical Sergeant Thomas Moore entered the U.S. Air Force from Louisiana and served with the 6250th Support Squadron. He was one of the three men who did not escape during this incident and was reportedly killed by the local communist guerilla guards. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted TSgt Moore to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt). Today, Chief Master Sergeant Moore is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

Service member profile discrepancy? Please help us ensure the accuracy of each profile by submitting documentation about a service member profile.

CMSgt THOMAS MOORE

Unit 6250 SUPPORT SQ
Historical Country of Loss
South Vietnam
Current Country of Loss
VIETNAM
Home of Record LA

Keesler welcomes its first Gold Star Family Member

What it means to be a Gold Star Family Member

CMSgt THOMAS MOORE

10/01/18 Mary, I'm excited to share with you that all the bracelets are now on the wrists of many Airman on Keesler AFB. General Leahy now wears one, along with senior enlisted and commanders of different unit commanders. I'm so happy. My copy of More than a Band of Metal is now in the hands of the Public affairs office. I just wanted to let you know. Diane
	SMSgt Del Torro. He has dads bracelet. He is an active duty wounded warrior.	General Leahy.