Veteran Salute: Bringing a personal passion to the Vietnam conflict

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Serving in the Army and Kansas Army National Guard, Mechanic Jim Moore put his years of experience to the test overseas.

Moore had already looked into joining the Air Force and Navy, when he received his draft notice.

“I’m not someone who likes to sit around and wait for things to happen," Moore said, "and I like to kind of be in control of it. So I went ahead and went down and joined the Army.”

Sent to Vietnam in February, 1968, Moore was well equipped for his new role as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic.

“I had always liked working on bicycles and I worked on cars with a friend of mine," He said. "We would stay up all night. He had a close friend, this friend’s father had a gas station, and they would allow us to stay in the gas station and use the lift and tools and everything to work on his car all night. We built a 49 ford that had been a moonshine runner.”

His skillset made him a vital asset overseas as one of only four maintenance crew members.

“I just did normal maintenance on the vehicles and kept generators running," Moore said. "If we had some guns go out to a different firebase for a short day or two mission, one of the mechanics or I would go out with them and set up the generators and keep them running until we were pulled back out of that location.” 

Even with the drastic change in location and weather, Moore felt like at the end of the day, he just got to be a Mechanic.

“The only thing that stood out with my tour over there was that I had volunteered for perimeter guard duty," he said. "We did a lot of convoys and all that, and we were also air mobile. Back home if I wanted to work on something it was in the garage, over there you may be out in a rainstorm, laying in mud working under a truck.” 

Moore took a lot of pride in keeping those vehicles mission ready for whatever the day had in store.

“We didn’t know where we were going or how fast we’d have to go," Moore said, "or if we got ambushed you couldn’t say hold it, I got a flat tire or my engine won’t run so don’t shoot at me. Nothing like that, you had to have the vehicles in top condition all the time.”

His time in the service wouldn't end there though, years later he'd go through the Kansas Army National Guard try one program. Moore traded the wheels for the blade, taking on the role as a Helicopter Mechanic in a Medevac Detachment Air Ambulance unit.