Happy 81st Birthday Jimmy Moore, Class of 1960

While I knew a lot of what to expect when I took the job as DEF’s first executive director in 2009, I did not know how enriched my life would be from some of the people I would get to know. A bright light in these past 13 years has been getting to know Jimmy Moore of the DHS Class of 1960. I met Jimmy early on in my tenure as I was being introduced to our scholarship donors. 

The story of the scholarship began soon after Jimmy and his peers graduated from Decatur High School. It was the time of the Vietnam War and, as Jimmy recently told me , “None of us were militarists. We simply raised our right hand and said “yes sir, I’ll go.” nothing dramatic nor heroic, no drumroll nor bugles blaring. Just boys doing what we thought we should do. We had elders – our fathers, brothers, uncles – who had served in the second world war and in Korea. it was just our turn, our duty. Thirty or so of us boys, out of about 110 in the class of ’60, served.” 

His friend and classmate Harry Edwards went to Georgia Tech on an ROTC Navy Scholarship and earned his pilot wings, before being assigned to the aircraft carrier the USS Constellation.  While on a mission over North Vietnam on October 20, 1966, Harry’s plane was shot down.  His remains were later recovered and buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Jimmy took a trip to the village where Harry’s plane was shot down to honor his friend and his sacrifice. He met the villagers who pulled Harry from the wreckage and tried to care for him. Then he returned home to create a scholarship in Harry’s name.

Jimmy is at heart a storyteller and a patriot. He shared with me the details of what it was like to return from Vietnam and walk-through Berkeley (my alma mater) at a time when protesters turned their anger on servicemen.  He shattered my stereotypes about southern men and about those who served.

Over the years he has shared stories of growing up in Decatur, and how for over 100 years, his family had someone attending City of Decatur schools.  He shared his shenanigans with me, like the time he and another mischievous boy climbed the water tower (back when the only consequences were a stern warning and a call to your parents).  He told me what it was like when the boys and girls used to hang out on “the wall” where they would smoke and flirt and at times cut class. 

Through these stories and the twinkle in Jimmy’s eye, I learned this man has a deep love for our city, our country and the relationships that make life worth living. 

Each year, at our Celebration of Excellence, when we award the Harry Edwards Class of 1960 scholarship, Jimmy is there to congratulate the winner and to give them a framed photo of Harry.  He has been delighted over the years to hear that some students have kept this with them at college as a reminder. 

Seventeen students have now received the scholarship, chosen for exemplifying the highest ideals of citizenship, school spirit, honesty, integrity, and self-discipline,  which were the hallmark of Harry’s life as a student and an officer.

Happy 81st  birthday Mr. JImmy Moore, Class of 1960.  You have taught me so much and I am so grateful to know you.