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The surprise event is Sat., Jan., 7th, 2006 for my Mom. It's also Tribute or Remembrance about my Dad, Major Lonnie R. Moore's life. It will also be a celebration of their 12 years together and a long over due Family reunion. It's being held at Eglin Air Force Base Armament Museum. 1/10/06 is the 50th anniversary of my Dad's death at Eglin.
I'll be sending out broadcast "event update" emails over the next 5-6 weeks. Since I need a head count to plan for food, drinks, chairs, tables, etc., let me know ASAP that you are coming & the number of all welcomed guest (I know some of us have already talked). I'm not sure, as yet, if the Air Force will allow Wine & Beer in the Museum but let know what you prefer.
If you don't eat certain things, please give me some hints on what you like. The main timing in general for now is everybody will need to be the Museum by 5pm. I'll be bringing my Mom there 5:30-6pm.
The Air Force Armament Museum is located on State Road 85 near State Road 189 and Eglin Air Force Base's West Gate. Travel time from U.S. 98 traveling north on Highway 85 in Fort Walton Beach is about 10 minutes; and from Interstate 10 at Crestview, about 20 minutes.
Air Force Armament Museum
100 Museum Drive
Eglin Air Force Base, FL 32542
(850) 882-4062
The Air Force Armament Museum is located on State Road 85 near State Road 189 and Eglin Air Force Base's West Gate. Travel time from U.S. 98 traveling north on Highway 85 in Fort Walton Beach is about 10 minutes; and from Interstate 10 at Crestview, about 20 minutes.
From Interstate I-10
- Take the SR-85 exit- EXIT 56- toward CRESTVIEW/NICEVILLE. (0.25 miles)
- Take the ramp toward NICEVILLE/EGLIN A.F.B./FT. WALTON BCH.. (0.07 miles)
- Turn onto FL-85 S/S FERDON BLVD. Continue to follow FL-85 S. (11.58 miles)
- Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto FL-123. (5.01 miles)
- Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto FL-85 S. (2.06 miles)
- Turn LEFT onto LEWIS TURNER BLVD/FL-189 N. Continue to follow FL-189 N. (0.52 miles)
- Turn LEFT onto FL-189 N/FL-397 N/EGLIN PKWY. Continue to follow FL-397 N. (1.11 miles)
- Turn RIGHT onto MUSEUM DR. (0.08 miles)
- End at 100 Museum Dr Eglin AFB, FL 32542-1405 US
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It is said that in times of crisis men are separated from boys and the cream rises to the top. Never was this more apparent than during the Korean War, when out from among those brave American fighter pilots, emerged one JetAce, with the "right stuff", Captain Lonnie Raymond Moore.
At the end of World War II in August of 1945, Korea was temporarily divided at the Thirty Eighth Parallel into Northern and Southern sectors by proposal adopted by the Soviet Union and the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee. In time the division became permanent. North America established a defense perimeter pledging to defend the Philippines, Ryukyu Islands and Japan. Taiwan and Korea were omitted from this perimeter. The omission of Korea from the North American defense perimeter portrayed South Korea as vulnerable and she was soon attacked by her Northern neighbor.
North Korean forces crossed the boundary and entered South Korea on June 25, 1950. They swept down the peninsula. The United Nations passed several resolutions sanctioning and condemning the actions of North Korea. Such resolutions and sanctions were soundly ignored. Korea’s southern tip was dangerously close to Japan, the country that North America was obliged by treaty to defend. The United Nation’s Security Counsel called for assistance to South Korea, and President Truman responded decisively. Reasoning that failure to act would embolden Communist leaders to override nations closer to our own shores, President Truman ordered American air, naval, and ground forces into action.
Lonnie Moore was a tall, young, fearless dashing young man with jet black hair and coal black eyes that were strong yet kind, and a smile that was warm and tender. He could think of nothing better to do than fly. He was born to do it. The rush of reaching altitude and the freedom of flight took him to the United States Air Force and beyond.
Lonnie became one of the Chiefs in the Fighter Interceptor Squadron flying combat missions in Korea. Flying his F-86, he wasted no time in becoming a Jet Ace in the Chiefs Fighter Interceptor Squadron, locating his adversaries in their Russian-built MIG-15’s; and ultimately downing ten (10) making Lonnie one of only a few Double Aces. In fact, the Chiefs downed more of these enemy jets than any other fighter squadron in the Korean War. Its record of 222 ½ MIG’s destroyed, 28 probables, and 185 damaged, remains unequalled in the history of jet warfare.
At Kimpo Air Force Base the Chief Jet Ace delighted in being in the thick of things, flying multiple combat missions each day. He would return, re-arm, refuel, and re-fly. A sign on the archway leaving the pilots briefing tent to the flight line read,goingout“Aminuteand ahalf,MIG Alley” and on the other side it read “Amile and a half Swig Alley” Officers’ Club).
Lonnie loved to make the boys laugh in Swig Alley. The pilots spoke of their exploits with their hands, zooming them up and down as they described their hits. The Chief Jet Ace enjoyed making the others feel more important than he. He loved to see laughter in the faces of his friends. While Lonnie was a legend in the eyes of his comrades, he was kind, humble and unassuming. The Ace was known for stopping to talk and share a joke or a handshake with everyone from the cook to the Commander.
There was only one thing that could turn the Chief Jet Ace’s head from his plane: the Dancer.
He watched her as she glided across the dance floor. Effortlessly, her beauty and grace captivated him. She loved him at first glance. She held her small petite frame high as she walked toward him and then collapsed in his arms. He engulfed her with his embrace, she could not help herself as she fell totally and completely in love with him. And the brave pilot had met his match in her. She danced, but now only for him. He never doubted her devotion and she never questioned his. They lived, loved and laughed making a family and planning their future.
It was Korea that called the Jet Ace away from the Dancer, yet she flew with him carrying him from mission to mission. They wrote to each other often of their love and devotion. As he flew with distinction defending his country, the Ace was inspired by thoughts of returning home to his Dancer. Her beautiful smile, the way she tilted her head as she looked at him, the sparkle in her eyes, her narrow waist, the way she glided across the dance floor like silk, the way she held him, the way she stood with him and honored him, the way she waited totally and completely for him; he could think of no better name for his jet than hers: "Billie". She was his wings.
"Billie" never let him down. Even on that cold day on the Yalu. He was lucky that day. It was the winter of 1953 and the Ace’s voice was clear and strong as it rang out over the radio. "Billie" had been hit and she was going down into the freezing Yalu River located at the border of North Korea and China. The Acebailed out of the jet and had but a few minutes of survival in the frozen Yalu. The rescue team, with only minutes to spare, plucked the 33rd Jet Ace from the icy waters. The war would not take the Dancer’s Chief Jet Ace.
Following his tour in the Korean War, Lonnie returned to Florida where he served as Chief Test Pilot at EglinAir Force Base. He relished in his family, hardly believing that he could have been so blessed to have children as dazzling as his Dancer.
Each day was enjoyed with total fullness and appreciation by the Dancer and her Jet Ace.
The Jet Ace had no fear of "pushing the outside edge of the envelope" in testing the limits of the various aircrafts including the new F-101 Voodoo aircraft. The Voodoo was slightly different than the F-100C aircraft that the Jet Ace had been flying. The control lever on his F-100C required a strong tug or pull in order to lift the aircraft off of the runway. It had a "heavy stick". The new Voodoo single-seater had a "light stick."
On January 10, 1956, the Jet Ace climbed into the single-seater for the first time and started the engine. He thought of his Dancer and his children. He took a deep breath thinking of how he would feel full and complete at the end of the day when he would open the door of his house to see them all rushing into his arms. He grabbed the stick.
“It was the sudden, vicious roar that made me look up quickly, a roar much louder than any jet would ever make in a normal takeoff.
Being on the flight line demanded constant awareness of what was going on. Aircraft, tow-trucks, re-fuelers, service vehicles, follow-me trucks – all used the ramps of the flight line. Every movement got a glance, every sound a look. Any lapse of alertness could get you hurt by something moving.
In 1956, Eglin’s buzzing flight operations constantly saw vehicles and aircraft coming and going, so a taxiing aircraft usually got only a glance to answer fleeting questions. Is it a familiar aircraft? Are pilot and crew perhaps friends or acquaintances? The only movement or sound that got more than casual attention was something different, such as a new aircraft type.
Just a few minutes before the vicious roar, the sound of an aircraft idling along the taxiway turned heads, but this particular one got prolonged looks – a new F-101 Voodoo. It went out of sight behind a flight-line building on its way to the end of the main runway for takeoff with the Gulf of Mexico behind it. I went back to my work.
Moments later came the vicious roar. I looked up and saw the new F-101 Voodoo diving toward the ground at about a 45 degree angle with the engines screaming and the right wing much too low. I watched the F-101 become a huge, fatal fireball—crimson-orange and black.” -Chuck West.
It was unusually quiet when the uniformed men with sullen faces came knocking on her door. Yet the door would not open.
The Dancer’s feet were stilled. She waited for her Ace; knowing that he would never return. She longed for another embrace, yet no embrace would come. She hoped to see his kind gentle reassuring smile and his smile would not appear. She looked for the sun that rose and set in his eyes and the sun would not shine. She listened for the song of his laughter and all of the notes were still. She lived for his love and his love was lifeless.
The Voodoo had claimed the Dancer’s Chief Jet Ace.
Perhaps it was a strong tug on the light stick of the Voodoo; or perhaps it was the mere design of the aircraft. No one can be sure exactly why the aircraft violently crashed. Shortly after the crash, the production of the Voodoo ceased. Life somehow continued for the Dancer and her children. They learned to make new music, find new loves, and have new families.
Yet he is always there among them. In their eyes, their smiles, the notes they sing and play; he is in their children who laugh, and in the steps of the Dancer whose heart will always be his.
Lonnie Moore is survived by his widow Billie Moore who lives in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. Billie retired in 2003 after owning and operating for over 35 years with her daughter Tina the well known women’s apparel store called Adam’s Rib Boutique. His son, Lonnie Moore, Jr. is deceased. His daughter, Tina Moore Quigley lives with her husband and three daughters in Destin, Florida. His son Steven Moore is a musician and lives in Orlando, Florida. His son Robert Barnes Moore lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida with his wife, children and grandchildren. Lonnie Moore’s brothers, George and Franklin Moore live in Texas with their families.
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