Hometown: Pine Ridge, SD
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Unit: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division
Military Honors: Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: November 20, 1943 - KIA on the Island of Betio, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands
Age: 23
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

Fae Verlin Moore was the youngest of ten children, growing up on his parents’ ranch near Chadron, Nebraska. His family moved 40 miles, across the state border to Pine Ridge, South Dakota when he was 11 years old.

Moore attended Beaver Valley School and graduated from the 8th grade. His formal education ended there, as he was needed to help the family as a farm hand and carpenter during the “Dirty Thirties” of the Dust Bowl days.

Like all men between the ages of 21 and 45, Fae Moore was required to register with the U.S. Selective Service in July of 1941. But he didn’t wait to be drafted. Moore traveled to the nearest recruiting station—nearly 600 miles away in Minneapolis, Minnesota to enlist on August 18, 1941. This was almost four months before the Japanese attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Writing to his sister from basic training in San Diego, California, Moore said, “The Marines are a lot tougher and stricter than the Army or Navy.” He adapted quickly, using his farm boy skills with a firearm to score as an “Expert” on the rifle range.

After seven weeks of training, Moore was assigned to Company E (“Easy Company”), 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. His first duty was to deliver ammunition for a 60mm mortar to the weapons platoon.

He was stationed at Camp Elliott in San Diego, California when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. His battalion prepared for deployment overseas, and on January 4 of 1942 boarded a Navy transport ship, the USAT Etolin in San Diego and sailed to Tutuila, American Samoa.

There, the regiment spent several months preparing for an expected Japanese attack that never materialized. With these months of relative calm providing an opportunity for intensive training, Moore practiced every role with his mortar team—from ammo carrier to squad leader. In April of 1942, he was promoted to Private First Class.

In October of that year, his 8th Marine Regiment sailed to the Solomon Islands and saw their first combat action in the battle for Guadalcanal on November 4. In the heavy fighting, Moore was exposed to the horrors of war, seeing friends killed and wounded. In January of 1943, his regiment was sent to New Zealand for rest and continued training.

Although he was repeatedly in the sick bay—likely because of a recurring tropical disease—Moore’s time in New Zealand was far from idle. His mortar skills continued to improve and he was promoted twice, first to Corporal and then to Sergeant, and was made a mortar “section leader” in charge of two squads.

While on liberty in New Zealand, Moore met a local woman named Jill Hudson. After a fast courtship, Moore and Hudson were engaged to be married.

In October of 1943, Moore’s regiment boarded transport ships in Wellington, New Zealand for more training. When the transports headed out to sea rather than returning to town, the Marines aboard knew they were headed back into combat.

The 2nd Battalion’s next mission was an amphibious assault on Betio Island, part of the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands of the Pacific. The assault, named “Operation GALVANIC,” and part of the Battle of Tarawa, began on November 20, 1943.

Sergeant Fae Moore, age 23, was killed in action on the first day of the battle. Mortarman Bill Ashley recounted the details of that day:

“Our tractor was in the third wave. We had two mortar squads and the weapons platoon leader, Lt. Thomas P. Perkins, aboard. Our tractor was hit going in, had a hole above the waterline. Water was pouring in. Lt. Perkins gave the order to remove helmets and bail water. We did, and got to the beach, but not over the sea wall.

“We had one man killed going over the side, Howard E. Ragsdale, and another was wounded, Ottis L. Snelson. We immediately set up our mortars. Our section leader, Sgt. Fae Moore, started over the wall to locate a target. He was killed instantly.”

Over several days of intense fighting on the Tarawa Atoll, some 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 wounded. The mission was accomplished, and the Gilbert Islands were under the control of the Allies.

A press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) describes the importance of the operation in the Gilbert Islands:

“The Battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.”

Those killed were buried in battlefield cemeteries on the island. A remains recovery operation was launched in 1946. Moore’s remains were not recovered, and in February of 1949 a military review board listed Sgt. Moore’s remains as non-recoverable. He was officially designated as Missing in Action.

Nearly 72 years after the Battle of Tarawa, a non-governmental organization, “History Flight,” notified the DPAA that they had discovered a burial site on Betio Island and had recovered the remains of what they believed were 46 Marines. The remains were sent to DPAA in July 2015, and DNA samples from Moore’s nephew confirmed that one of the Marines was indeed Sgt. Moore.

With his status officially change to “accounted for” on August 16, 2016, Fae V. Moore’s remains were returned to his family for burial with full military honors. His final resting place is near his parents in the Beaver Valley Cemetery in Sheridan County, Nebraska.

Sources
Details submitted by Mr. Jeffery Hampton, Sgt. Moore’s great-nephew.
USMC Life: Tarawa Marine finally coming home who was killed in WWII
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: Marine From World War II Accounted For (Moore)
Missing Marines: Fae Verlin Moore
Camp Hamilton Veterans Memorial Park: Fae V. Moore’s Story
Tribute Archive (Obituary): Sgt. Fae Verlin Moore
National Museum of the Pacific War: Fae V. Moore
Burial Site: Find a Grave