Lonnie R. Moore (13 July 1920 – 10 January 1956) was a United States military aviator who flew 54 combat missions in

Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

s during World War II, and whom became a double jet

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, downing ten

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

s and one probable while flying

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...

s. He was killed in the crash of a new fighter type at

Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...

, Florida, at age 35.

Biography

Lonnie Raymond Moore was a native of Groesbeck and

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, the son of Joseph Benjamin (J. B.) and Lillie Toten Moore of that city. During World War II, Moore piloted

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

medium bombers of the 596th Bomb Squadron (Medium), 397th Bomb Group (Medium), in the European Theatre of Operations, flying 54 missions, and being downed twice. In both cases, he evaded capture to return to duty. On 2 December 1944, Moore and his crew bailed out of B-26G-5-MA, ''43-34290'', over

Nogent sur Vernisson Nogent-sur-Vernisson () is a commune in the eastern part of the Loiret department in the Centre-Val de Loire region central-north France. It had a population of 2,589 in 2019. The main employer in the town is the CIMRG plant which manufactures co ...

, France, after an engine caught fire. In the post-war era, he transitioned to fighter aircraft. As a captain, he was assigned to the Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin AFB, Florida, in 1951, where he served as a project officer during the Korean War, deploying TDY to Korea to perform a test under combat conditions with the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron,

4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in the modified F-86F-2 Sabre, upgunned with the

M39 cannon The M39 cannon is a 20 mm caliber single-barreled revolver cannon developed for the United States Air Force in the late 1940s. It was used on a number of fighter aircraft from the early 1950s through the 1980s. Development The M39 was developed ...

. During the test mission he downed two MiG-15s with the new weapon. Remaining in Korea after the test was completed, he flew 100 combat missions, destroying ten

MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...

s, plus one probable. On 30 April 1953, on his 54th mission, Moore was forced to bail out of disabled F-86F-2, ''51–2803'', due to an engine stall following cannon-firing, approximately 20 miles north of Ch'o Do Island, coming down in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

. He was plucked from the water as soon as he got out of his parachute harness by a YH-19 helicopter of the

3d Air Rescue Squadron 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, fictional British 00 Agent * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other rela ...

that had monitored his descent. Moore scored his fifth aerial victory on 18 June 1953. Returning to Eglin by the last quarter of 1953, Moore was one of seven fighter pilots "who made exceptional records in Korea" profiled by ''

Collier's Magazine ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'' in the October issue. Moore served as the Air Force Operational Test Center's chief project officer for operational suitability tests of the Air Force's first supersonic jet fighter, the

F-100A Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet engine, jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century S ...

, in 1954, and the F-100C, from October 1955, on which test program Moore served as senior project officer, from April 1955.

Death

On 10 January 1956, Moore was killed in the take-off crash of an F-101A-15-MC Voodoo, ''53-2443'', from Eglin AFB. Moore was making his first flight in the new fighter design but the jet pitched up and crashed in the center of the airfield just after becoming airborne, appearing to explode on impact. Although the crash site was only from the fire station, and the blaze extinguished within three minutes, the pilot had no chance to escape and was killed. He was survived by his widow, the former Billie Geneva Hall, (also reported as Billie Geneeva Hall) of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, and five children, Robert Barnes, 15; Barbara W., 13; Lonnie R. Jr., 7; Tina Gail, 3 1/2 and Steven Scott, 20 months old. Moore had been a resident of

Fort Walton Beach, Florida Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

for five years. He is buried at

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of 2014, had over 144,000 interme ...

. At the time of his death, Moore had more than 1,500 hours in single-engine jet aircraft and 3,570 total flight hours, 328 of them in combat.

Honors and awards

Moore held 14 decorations, including the Nation's second highest award, the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

, plus the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak clusters, the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with 14 clusters.

References

External links

Memorial site to Lonnie Moore created by his son, Steven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Lonnie R. 1920 births 1956 deaths Accidental deaths in Florida American Korean War flying aces American test pilots Aviators from Texas Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Air Force officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1956 Victims of flight test accidents People from Groesbeck, Texas Military personnel from Texas Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Shot-down aviators