Maurice Henry Moore

When cousin Maurice left town nearly forty years ago, as a young man barely old enough to vote, he was off to a foreign war presided over by a tall Texan by the named of Lyndon Johnson.  He finally circles back to us while a less tall Texan named George Bush presides over two foreign wars. He has returned to us finally, ending the waiting and bringing the story of his sacrificial life and uncertain death to closure.

We remember him from Mosher Street, before Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Georgia Mae packed up the kids and moved to Appleton Street.  I recall his enthusiasm when we played cowboys and Indians.  It’s funny how I always remember how well he dove to the ground once pretending to be shot or trying to avoid being shot.  He was a lot of fun,  that’s what I remember about him…

But memories fade and old acquaintances are forgotten.  As President Johnson became President Nixon, then Ford took his turn at leadership, then Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and now Bush II.  It feels like the more things change, as the young British singer, Corrine Bailey Rae tells us, the more they remain the same.  And all the while some held, tucked away in the sock drawers of their hearts, secret hopes of seeing ‘Rice again.  Others moved on after awhile to the pressing things of that day, then the next, then weeks, years and four decades.

It is nice of him to come back to us.  It was hard to say goodbye without that earthly part of him here to give us meaning and focus.  But Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Georgia, their children, their siblings, their parents and their friends, bade farewell to ‘Rice who was then known simply as missing.   It seemed unsettling to hold a funeral without him here but we thought we’d never see him again, never hear from him again, never find him again.  

But God has given us a gift.  We have an opportunity to remember in these troubled times the bravery of a young man in another troubling war from another time.  We have a chance to see his picture and to reminisce on forgotten days, forgotten pains and forgotten strains in relationships over the conflict in Southeast Asia.  He returns to us a hero.   The nation could not agree on how we felt about our soldiers when he left us.  But he returns to us a hero: all who go off to fight for us are now.  And he returns to us a healer.

We have grown as a country.  Cousin Maurice’s revisit helps remind us…  But peace still evades us.

As our children playfully dance the “Soulja Boy” and war rages on in the Middle East, let us keep our eyes on the prize.  It is peace we want in our times.  It is peace away from the heartache of losing young men and women from the violence on our streets or the violence of foreign wars.  We look to the day when handsome young men are not lost to combat. 

Maurice Henry Moore was a good man from a good family.  Like any nice young man who is loved and cared for, he returns home.  And like any good family, in spite of the time lapse and despite the circumstances, we welcome him.

His coming home brings us some peace of mind.  Again, it is peace that we all seek.  So, let there be peace on Earth, let it begin with Maurice’s return and let it begin with us all.

Thank you,

Ralph E. Moore, Jr.