Hal Moore Harold Gregory " Hal " Moore , Jr . ( born February 13 , 1922 ) is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army and author . Moore is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross , which is the second highest military decoration of the United States Army , and was the first of his West Point class ( 1945 ) to be promoted to brigadier general , major general , and lieutenant general . He is best known 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 ; today , he is the " honorary colonel " of the Regiment . Biography . Moore was born on February 13 , 1922 , in Bardstown , Kentucky . He had wanted to attend the United States Military Academy in West Point , New York , however he found it difficult to be appointed to West Point due to the rural area of his hometown . Moore therefore moved to Washington , D . C . , where he graduated high school and attended [ Brown University ] for two years . After that , he was appointed to West Point by a Georgia congressman in 1942 . He graduated from West Point in early 1945 and attended graduate studies at George Washington University and Harvard University , and achieved a Master ' s Degree in international relations from the latter . Moore was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry branch in early 1945 . He served with the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment in Japan from 1945 until 1948 . In 1948 he was re - assigned to Fort Bragg . While with the 82nd Airborne Division , he volunteered to join the Airborne Test Section , a special unit testing experimental parachutes , and he made some 150 jumps with the section over the next two years . Over the course of his career , he became a master parachutist with over 300 jumps . In 1952 Moore was assigned to the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division as a captain in the Korean War . While in Korea , he commanded both a rifle company and a heavy mortar company in combat . He next served as Regimental and then Divisional Assistant Chief - of - Staff , Operations and Plans . In 1954 , Moore returned to West Point , this time as a major , and served for three years as an instructor in infantry tactics . While serving as an instructor at West Point , Moore taught then - cadet Norman Schwarzkopf , who called Moore one of his " heroes , " and cites Moore as the reason he chose the infantry branch upon graduation . Schwarzkopf later became a General in the U . S . Army and led the UN Coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War against the Ba ' athist Iraq . Moore next attended the Command and General Staff College , followed by a three - year tour in the Office , Chief of Research and Development where his initiative and insights were key to the development of new airborne equipment and airborne / air assault tactics . Following graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1960 Moore served a three - year tour with Headquarters , Allied Forces Northern Europe in Oslo , Norway . In 1964 , Lieutenant Colonel Moore completed the course of study at the National War College , while earning a master ' s degree in International Relations from Harvard University . Moore was transferred to Fort Benning and commanded a battalion in the 11th Air Assault Division , undergoing air assault and air mobility training and tests until July 1965 , when the Division was redesignated the 1st Cavalry Division . Lieutenant Colonel Moore as CO of the 1st Battalion , 7th Cavalry ( then in the 3rd ( Garry Owen ) Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division took his unit to South Vietnam , and led it in the famous Battle of Ia Drang . Encircled by enemy soldiers with no clear landing zone ( LZ ) that would allow them to leave , Moore managed to persevere despite overwhelming odds that led to a sister battalion only two - and - a - half miles away being massacred the next day . Moore ' s dictum that " there is always one more thing you can do to increase your odds of success " and the courage of his entire command are credited with this astounding outcome . Importantly , despite the fact that Moore ' s spirited defense led to more than a 4 - to - 1 ratio between North Vietnamese casualties and U . S . casualties in their first major engagement of the war , Moore considers the battle a draw because the U . S . forces left the area , allowing the North Vietnamese to reassert control . Many consider this early battle a microcosm of the later war . Moore was known as " Yellow Hair " to his troops at the battle at Ia Drang , for his blond hair , and as a tongue - in - cheek homage referencing George Armstrong Custer , commander of the same unit ( 7th Cavalry ) at the Battle of the Little Bighorn just under a century before . Moore was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Ia Drang . After the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley , Moore was promoted to colonel and took over the command of the Garry Owen Brigade . After service in Vietnam , Moore served as Assistant Chief - of - Staff , Operations and Plans of the Eighth Army in South Korea , and Commanding General of the 7th Infantry Division , before rotating back to the US . As Commanding General of the Army Training Center at Fort Ord , California in 1971 - 1973 , he oversaw extensive experimentation in adapting basic and advanced individual training under Project VOLAR in preparation for the end of conscription and the institution of the Modern Volunteer Army . His final assignments took him to the East Coast , as Commanding General of the Military Personnel Records Center , and finally , Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel , Department of the Army . After his retirement in 1977 , Moore served as the Executive President of the Crested Butte Ski Area , Colorado . In June 2009 , the 87 - year - old Moore attended the formal opening of the National Infantry Museum in Columbus , Georgia . One of the featured exhibits of the museum is a life - size diorama of LZ X - Ray from the Battle of Ia Drang . Family . Moore and his late wife , Julia Compton Moore , have five children and twelve grandchildren . Two of their sons are career Army officers : one a retired lieutenant colonel and another a retired colonel . Books . In 1975 , the United States Army Center of Military History published " Building a Volunteer Army : The Fort Ord Contribution " , by Moore and Lieutenant Colonel Jeff M . Tuten . The 139 - page paperback is a monograph concerning the Project VOLAR experiments during Moore ' s tenure in command of Fort Ord in 1971 - 1973 in preparation for the end of the draft and the implementation of the Modern Volunteer Army . In 1992 Moore wrote " We Were Soldiers Once … And Young " with co - author Joseph L . Galloway . The book was adapted into the 2002 film " We Were Soldiers " , which was filmed at Forts Benning and Hunter Liggett , depicting Moore ' s command of 1st Battalion , 7th Cavalry , at Fort Benning and in the Battle of Ia Drang . In the film , Moore was played by Mel Gibson , while Galloway was portrayed by Barry Pepper . Moore and Joseph L . Galloway have co - authored another book together , a follow - up to their highly successful first collaboration . " We Are Soldiers Still ; A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam " was highly anticipated and published in 2008 . Moore and Galloway reunited to give an interview on the book at the Pritzker Military Library on September 17 , 2008 . In 2007 Moore ' s volunteer driver authored a book on Moore ' s personal religious journey titled " A General ' s Spiritual Journey . " According to the publisher on Amazon . com in the book " Hal Moore opens his heart and soul about the role of faith through his many life experiences . The book is an evocative collection of his memories , as observed and recorded by his friend and driver . " In November 2013 , Casemate Publishers will release " Hal Moore : A Soldier Once . . . and Always , " by Mike Guardia , a fully illustrated biography on Moore ' s life and career .