Former Army Staff Sgt. Pamela Moore remembers the two years she served in Operation Desert Storm as being “very scary,” particularly because troops lived under the constant threat of chemical warfare.
But there is one “key moment” that always stands out in her mind. The Denver native said she was among about 100 Fort Bragg-based soldiers leaving a hotel one day to make room for incoming reservists.
“We had just moved out of one of the hotels,” she said. The next day, “that building was bombed,” injuring the reservists, some fatally, the 41-year-old Moore recalled.
But she never entertained thoughts of abandoning her mission.
“You take it one day at a time,” said Moore, one of hundreds who attended Memorial Day services at Fort Logan National Cemetery on Monday. “You don’t ask why.”
In a stately ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, a military flyover and a presentation of a wreath by members of the Vietnamese American Community of Colorado, hundreds came out to honor U.S. soldiers who fought, and died, for their country.
Families sat in plastic chairs alongside veterans of World War II, the Vietnam and Korean wars, and operations in the Middle East. Children saluted and women wiped tears as “God Bless America” was sung.
Col. Dave Ziegler, 460th Space Wing Commander, called the soldiers “gallant warriors” who not only fought for their country in foreign lands but also “especially fought for each other.”
“Leave no man behind” is their motto, he reminded those present.
He also praised the families of soldiers, telling them “the nation is eternally grateful to you for – in your own way – serving with honor and distinction.”
Johnny Thanh, 53, stood with other former South Vietnamese soldiers, who presented a wreath honoring Vietnam veterans.
“We wanted to pay our homage to those who lost their lives helping us defend our freedom” against communism, said Thanh, who was a South Vietnamese soldier in 1972.
Moore said there is a special bond among veterans, a deep respect.
“I look for the older women veterans because they laid the ground to where I could come into the military and I was … treated as an equal,” said Moore, who also is black.
Moore, whose father – Korean War veteran Pfc. John Henry Lewis – is buried at Fort Logan, said she was humbled when one Korean veteran thanked her for her service in the Middle East.
“I said, ‘No,”‘ Moore recalled, ‘If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be serving.”‘
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-820-1684 or at krouse@denverpost.com.
