ATLANTA — Days after turning 101-years-old, Charles Moore sat down with 11Alive to recall his time in the Army ahead of Veteran's Day.
"When I look at it, I think about the time I spent in the military," Moore said of a photo with him wearing his Army uniform. It is the lasting image of his time during World War II.
For the Macon native, though, yet another image comes to mind from his time in the Army: an image he said was plastered all over town.
"That finger was pointing at me saying, 'we want you, we want you.' So, they eventually got me," Moore laughed while recalling the famous image of Uncle Sam. "I was drafted by the U.S. Army, as if I had a choice."
Moore was drafted in 1943. He then went through basic training, first heading to Fort Benning, Georgia, and then to bases up the East Coast.
"I didn't know it, but I was bound to get on a ship to go overseas," Moore recounted. "We stayed on that ship -- you won't believe this -- for 30 days."
Moore ended up on a liberty ship that coasted down the East Coast, through the Panama Canal and on to Australia and eventually to New Guinea.
"We went through New Guinea building airstrips so the planes could bring in supplies," Moore said.
Moore's duty was to island-hop and help build airstrips.
"I didn't mind the infantry going ahead of us," Moore recalled while laughing.
Eventually, Moore said he found himself back on a ship headed toward Tokyo. While on the water, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
"That ended the war, so we turned around, literally, from heading to Tokyo to head back to the United States," Moore said.
After three years in the Army, Moore received an honorable discharge in 1946. He then moved to Atlanta and attended Morris Brown College, later became the school's chief financial officer and then interim president.
It is just a snapshot of a life well-lived by a man that is now proudly 101-years-old.
"And I'm looking for 102!" Moore proudly said.
