Dr. Samuel T. Moore

Samuel T. Moore, MD
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Although it was against regulations to do so, Dr. Sam Moore kept a daily diary of his activities as a flight surgeon with the Army Air Corps in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, India and China in World War II.Moore brings to life the events, circumstances, frustrations, friendships and heartaches of his wartime adventures.He sees the war through a surgeon's eyes and presents an accurate and revealing view of life at the forward fighter bases.

The book's author , Dr. Samuel T. Moore , was then a 30-year-old flight surgeon from Oklahoma City , who was keeping a daily diary even though it was against regulations.That diary is the heart of Moore's memoir , Flight Surgeon : With the 81st Fighter Group in World War II ( Macedon Publishing Co. , 1999 ).

Now 88 , the retired orthopedic surgeon who still lives in Oklahoma City sent me the book after he ran across my column , recognized my last name and tracked down my address.

It's rare these days for the children of World War II veterans to hear firsthand recollections about their fathers from their combat buddies.I'd already heard some stories from pilots who flew with Dad in the 92nd Fighter Squadron , but visiting with Dr. Moore by telephone added rich details to the portrait of a young man I never knew.

Bart Bartimus was a prankster who bartered successfully for ice in the desert , who once liberateda goat for a barbecue , who landed his fighter in shifting sands to save a stranded friend.As the Americans fought their way through Tunisia , El Guettar and Kasserine Pass , I could see the past through Moore's eyes :.

Your dad had a rugged frame and large hands.He had well-tanned skin , and he grinned a lot.The guys liked him ; he was popular among the pilots.He was rated as one of the better pilots in the outfit.
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Thanks in part to Moore , my dad didn't die in that Sicilian olive grove on Dec. 26 , 1943 , when his engine quit on landing after a mission.Moore wrote that Dad jettisoned his belly tank and made a dead-stick landing in the best place available.He tore three trees to pieces and damaged 15 others , plus tearing up a stone wall.The plane cartwheeled and landed on its back.
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The lives of Bartimus and Moore intersected for a brief , crucial time.
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Thanks to Moore , I got a glimpse of him then , too.

Send your great stories of 300 words or less to tadfriends@yahoo.com , or write her at P.O. Box 728 , Puunene , HI 96784.

Tuesday , June 26 , 2001

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Flight Surgeon: With the 81st Fighter Group in WW-II by Samuel T. Moore, MD

Although it was against regulations to do so, Dr. Sam Moore kept a daily diary of his activities as a flight surgeon with the Army Air Corps in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, India and China in World War II.Moore brings to life the events, circumstances, frustrations, friendships and heartaches of his wartime adventures.He sees the war through a surgeon's eyes and presents an accurate and revealing view of life at the forward fighter bases.

Dr. Samuel Moore '31 brought us a book that he authored and autographed entitled "Flight Surgeon."Dr. Moore was a flight surgeon with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and was assigned to the 81st Fighter Group.He took part in the actions in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and China.Dr. Moore is a retired orthopedic surgeon who practiced in Oklahoma City for 46 years.