Robin Moore | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Lowell Moore Jr. October 31, 1925 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | February 21, 2008(2008-02-21) (aged 82) Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard College (1949) |
| Genre | Fiction and non-fiction |
| Subject | Military, war |
Robert Lowell Moore Jr. (October 31, 1925 – February 21, 2008) was an American writer who wroteThe Green Berets,The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy, and withXaviera Hollander and Yvonne Dunleavy,The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.
Moore co-authored the lyrics for "The Ballad of the Green Berets", which was one of the major hit songs of 1966. The song was featured in the 1968 filmThe Green Berets, based on Moore's book, which starredJohn Wayne. A new edition ofThe Green Berets was published in April 2007, and his last book,Wars of the Green Berets, co-authored with Col. Mike 'Doc' Lennon, was released in June 2007.
Moore was convicted oftax fraud in 1986. At the time of his death, he was living inHopkinsville, Kentucky, home toFort Campbell and the5th Special Forces Group, where he was working on his memoirs and three other books.
Born inBoston, Moore was the son ofRobert Lowell Moore and Eleanor Turner Moore.[1] Moore was raised inConcord, Massachusetts, where he attendedMiddlesex School. He also attendedBelmont Hill School.[citation needed]
DuringWorld War II, he served as anose gunner in theU.S. Army Air Forces, flying combat missions in theEuropean Theater. For his service, he was awarded theAir Medal. Moore graduated fromHarvard College in 1949, and one of his first jobs was working in television production and then at theSheraton Hotel Company co-founded by his father, Robert Lowell Moore. While working in the hotel business in theCaribbean, he recorded the early days ofFidel Castro in the nonfiction bookThe Devil To Pay.
Due to connections with Harvard classmateRobert F. Kennedy, (Harvard class of 1948), Moore (Harvard class of 1949) was allowed access to theU.S. Army Special Forces to write about this elite unit of the United States Army. GeneralWilliam P. Yarborough insisted that Moore go through special forces training to better understand "what makes Special Forces soldiers 'special'." He trained for nearly a year, first at "jump school" forairborne training before completing theSpecial Forces Qualification Course or "Q course", becoming the first civilian to participate in such an intensive program. Afterwards, Moore was assigned to the5th Special Forces Group on deployment toSouth Vietnam. His experiences in-country formed the basis forThe Green Berets, a bestseller that helped secure him international acclaim (seeUnited States Army Special Forces in popular culture).
During the 1970s and '80s, Moore travelled widely, spending time in such places asDubai,Iran,Rhodesia, and Russia. Having gathered the information needed, he wroteThe Crippled Eagles (later published asThe White Tribe) andThe Moscow Connection. Due to political controversy,The Crippled Eagles was rejected by publishers and did not appear until the early 1990s. He also wrote the nonfiction booksRhodesia andMajor Mike (with U.S. Army Major Mike Williams).
While researching what becameThe Crippled Eagles, in 1976 Moore established what he called the "Unofficial US Embassy" inSalisbury, and began hosting events for theAmerican volunteers who were serving in the Rhodesian Security Forces as well as doctoral students. He encouraged the volunteers to call themselves 'Crippled Eagles' due to the mistaken perception that they were being harassed, or could be harassed, by their government. Moore also sold t-shirts, sew-on patches and other merchandise using the 'Crippled Eagle' motif. During the same year, he also wrote a book that argued that Rhodesia was not racist and included profiles offoreign volunteers in the country.[2]
In April 1986, Moore pleaded guilty toconspiracy to defraud the United States for participating in a scheme involving means of roughly $37 million in literarytax shelters which generated fraudulenttax losses for over 1,000 individual U.S. taxpayers involving paperback books whose value had been artificially inflated, thus facilitating claims for falsedepreciation deductions andtax credits.[3] He was sentenced to five years of probation fined $500, and ordered to serve 300 hours of community service.[4]
Moore travelled toUzbekistan in December 2001 to research theCIA-Northern Alliance war against theTaliban andal-Qaeda, publishing the account in the bestsellerThe Hunt for Bin Laden.
In 2003, continuing his interest in writing about thewar on terror, Moore traveled toIraq to researchOperation Iraqi Freedom and the downfall of theSaddam Hussein regime for his book,Hunting Down Saddam. Before his death, he completedThe Singleton: Target Cuba with Ret. USASF Major GeneralGeoffrey Lambert, a novel about Fidel Castro andbiological warfare.
Shortly after the publication ofThe Hunt for Bin Laden, the veracity of the book was disputed, particularly regarding the involvement ofJack Idema. Idema, who was one of Moore's major sources, provided what later proved to be fabricated accounts of his exploits. To portray himself as having a greater role in the operation, Idema apparently went as far as to rewrite much of Moore and Chris Thompson's text prior to publication under the direct authorization of Random House editor Bob Loomis. Special Forces soldiers who were on the mission (including those whom Moore interviewed) disputed Idema's claims.[5]
With Idema thus discredited, Moore eventually disavowedThe Hunt for Bin Laden and the book remains out of print.[6] Despite the dispute over the book's veracity, Moore continued to enjoy the respect of the Special Forces community.[7]
The Green Berets is a 1968 film based on Moore's1965 book.[8] Parts of the screenplay bear little relation to the novel, although the portion in which a woman seduces a Vietnamese communist leader and sets him up to be kidnapped by Americans is from the book. John Wayne requested and obtained full military co-operation and materiel fromPresident Johnson. To please the Pentagon, which was attempting to prosecute Robin Moore for revealing classified information, Wayne bought Moore out for $35,000 and 5% of undefined profits of the film.[9]
At the 2007 5th Special Forces Group reunion banquet, Col. Chris Conner confirmed Moore as a lifelong member of 5th SFG. At the same banquet, Moore was made aKentucky colonel.[citation needed]
Robin Moore died in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on February 21, 2008, after a long illness. A memorial service was held in the First Presbyterian Church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Eulogies were given by Major GeneralVictor J. Hugo Jr., Major GeneralThomas R. Csrnko,Alexander N. Rossolimo, and Moore's brother John. A Presidential citation was presented to Helen Moore by General Hugo. Full military honors were rendered immediately after the service by a complement of 5th Group Special Forces soldiers fromFort Campbell.[10]
Moore was cremated and his remains were interred inSleepy Hollow Cemetery (Concord, Massachusetts) with full military honors rendered again by a complement of Special Forces soldiers from the 5th Group ofFort Campbell and this time theConcord Independent Battery delivered gun salutes. This was followed by a sounding of Echo Taps.
Major GeneralGary L. Harrell, deputy commanding general of theUnited States Special Operations Command, issued this statement in praise of Moore:
All Special Forces Soldiers, past and present, mourn the passing of Robin Moore; he was a valued and trusted member of the Special Operations family. Robin was a devoted advocate and a true Ambassador for the "Green Beret" and all they stand for.His writings on Special Forces are textbooks for our modern Unconventional Warriors; they were both educational and inspirational and introduced the world to the "Green Berets." He will be missed.[11]
Though [the Special Forces soldiers] never met or talked to Idema, and despite the fact that almost ten members had carefully detailed their actions to Moore at K2, the first chapter puts forth an account of the team's infill into Afghanistan that the men tell me has been entirely fabricated.
We're the only ones who understand what we do," says Steve Stone, referring to "The Brotherhood" of Green Berets, whether fresh from Iraq or weathered by Vietnam, who converge here. He nods to Moore. "And that's our icon sitting right there.
The French Connection | |
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