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NAME Donald Burns Moore |
NICKNAME Don |
SERVICE NUMBER O-13664 |
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| UNIT VMF-215 Pilot |
HOME OF RECORD 311 East Jefferson Street Wheaton, IL |
NEXT OF KIN Sister, Miss Anne Moore of Indianapolis, IN |
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| DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1918 at Cleveland, OH |
ENTERED SERVICE June 1941 (US Navy) September 3, 1942 (commissioned) |
DATE OF LOSS July 26, 1943 |
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| REGION Solomon Islands |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Kolombangara |
CASUALTY TYPE Killed In Action |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS First Lieutenant Donald B. Moore was a pilot assigned to VMF-215, a Marine fighter squadron based at Guadalcanal in the summer of 1943. He flew in a division led by Captain Gerald M. Pickerel. On 26 July, VMF-215 was given a mission to escort a flight of B-24 bombers to strike Kahili. Twenty Corsairs took off at 0700 hours, but mechanical problems plagued the mission. One of Captain Pickerel’s pilots returned shortly after takeoff, reporting engine trouble. Pickerel himself dropped out of formation and dove into the sea at 0845, and a third pilot headed home a few minutes later. Now orphaned, Moore joined up on the flight leader, Major Neefus. About thirty miles north of Kolombangara, a Japanse Zero pounced on Moore’s Corsair and set it smoking. Moore struggled for control, but the aircraft went into a spin and crashed at sea, exploding on impact. No parachute was seen, and Moore was reported as killed in action that day. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK First Lieutenant posthumous Captain |
STATUS OF REMAINS Lost at sea. |
MEMORIALS Wheaton Cemetery, Wheaton, IL Manila American Cemetery |
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