It seems like each year I've come to recognize Memorial Day less as a three day party, and more as a time to remember the heroes who sacrificed so that we can be free to have three day parties.
No matter who we voted for, or who our favorite teams are, we are Americans first, last, and always. You can run down our favorite player, or our driver, but if you run down our flag, damnit, you'll have to leave.
Walter 'Bud' Moore was born in 1925, in Spartanburg, SC. He was part of the the largest invasion ever on June 6, 1944 when he splashed ashore at Utah Beach.
Imagine being a 19 year old country boy moving a couple of hundred yards through the cold sea water, into the face of withering enemy fire. Not questioning why me? Or, what am I doing here? Just doing the right thing with no complaints.
Bud Moore would stay in Europe through the end of World War II. He followed Patton to Bastogne to rescue the 101st Airborne. Moore earned five Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars for Valor.
Bud made it back to South Carolina, where he started racing dirt track cars in the late 1940s. He became a NASCAR Cup team owner in the late 1950s.
His team won two Cup championships, 1962, 1963, with Joe Weatherly driving. Bud Moore Engineering won 63 races with drivers such as Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, and Ricky Rudd.
The multi-car teams of the 1990s were the beginning of the end for Moore, and his one-car team folded in 2001. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Bud Moore was the epitome of hard work, perseverance, class, and ingenuity. Whether at the race track, or on the battlefield. Thank you, Bud
No comments:
Post a Comment