Rufus Slaughter Moore was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Rufus Slaughter Moore Sr. and Julia Estelle Horne. He married Eloise Thomas on June, 1941.
2nd Lieutenant Rufus Slaughter Moore, US Army Air Force, was assigned to the 45th Fighter Squadron 15th Fighter Group P-51’s on South Field, Iwo Jima. He is listed as dead on 29 May 1945, and is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing Honolulu Memorial Cemetery, Hawaii.
On May 29,1945 more than 450 B-29s, escorted by about 100 Mustangs, raided Yokohama for the first time, setting the stage for one of the biggest air battles of the Pacific War. The bombers encountered aggressive Japanese army and navy units, and a furball quickly developed as some 650 aircraft clawed at each other. One particularly daring Japanese pilot (believed to be naval ace Sadaaki Akamatsu) shot down 45th Squadron Lieutenant Rufus Moore and sped through the escort with seeming impunity. “He made us look like a bunch of truck drivers,” commented Lieutenant Jack Wilson of the 531st.
–Submitted by Douglas Sowers
In the picture, 2nd Lieutenant Rufus Slaughter Moore is in the middle. The picture was taken in Hawaii in 1945 and was provided by Randall Lake whose father, George Lake, is on the left.
The Johnson City Press-Chronicle, 16 January 1944
Rufus Slaughter Moore Jr., for six years a city postal carrier in Erwin, is preparing to “pack the mail” in an entirely different sense of the word – in one of Uncle Sam’s fleet military aircraft and to the nation’s enemies in the scattered parts of the globe. At Strother Field, Kans., Moore is nearing his completion of the basic phase of his training as a pilot in the Army Air Forces. Moore is one of four sons of Mr. and Mrs. R.S.Moore of Erwin now serving their country in the armed forces. One brother, Louis, is a second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces and is an advanced instructor at Dothan Field, Ala. The other brothers, Bill, a Seabee, and George, a sailor on a destroyer, are seaman first class somewhere in the Pacific. Athletic fans of Erwin will remember Moore’s prowess as a member of the basketball, baseball and football teams of Erwin high school. Before he became a city mail carrier, Moore was boys’ work secretary for the Erwin Y.M.C.A. His wife, Mrs. Eloise T. Moore, is making her home at 416 Clinchfield, Erwin, while he is serving in the Army Air Forces.
- Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Date of birth: 27 January 1917
- Date of death: 29 May 1945
- County: Unicoi
- Hometown: Erwin
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 45th Fighter Squadron 15th Fighter Group
- Theater: Pacific
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart, Air Medal
- Burial/Memorial Location: Honolulu Memorial Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIX, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Rufus S. Moore Jr.
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