Interview, Ken Moore, USA

Ken Moore (1942-2019) was born and raised in Rochester, NY. He graduated from Charlotte High School and worked for Eastman Kodak until he was drafted into the United States Army Cavalry on November 4, 1965. Moore completed boot camp at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was about to be transferred to Fort Devans, in Massachusetts, when orders came through for him to go to Vietnam. Moore attended eight weeks of jungle school in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He shipped out to Vietnam from San Francisco with the other 140 members of the 17th Cavalry Unit from Fort Benning. Moore served on active duty for 2 years, reaching the rank of Sergeant First Class. He then spent 16 years in the Army Reserve and was discharged in 1986. After returning from Vietnam, Moore went to work at Kodak and retired from there in 1991. He also served as president of the local Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 20.

In this interview, Moore talks about his difficulty readjusting to civilian life and the importance of veterans groups. Moore shares that he had a hard time returning home from Vietnam because he could not relate to people his own age that had not been in the war. He says that Vietnam veterans were treated “like the scum of the earth” when they came home. Moore says he did not tell people he was a veteran and feels that soldiers were blamed for the war. He says that he thinks it is important for veterans to help one another because no one else is going to. He also says that the U.S. government needs to support veterans much more than it does.