He served in the Second World War, but Capt. Tom Moore’s greatest contribution to his nation has been his service against the coronavirus.
Moore, who celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday, has earned recent British public fame for his original and highly successful fundraising effort. Walking laps in his garden, the retired British Army officer has now raised over $40 million for the nation’s public health service. So, it was in that context that the British armed forces sought to reward Moore with a rather special birthday celebration.
Not only did Moore receive a special cake, an Army honor guard, a celebrity rendition of “Happy Birthday,” and congratulatory messages from Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Boris Johnson. As you’ll see below, he received three flypasts from RAF Hurricanes and Spitfire fighter aircraft. Those aircraft were instrumental to Britain’s wartime effort against the Axis powers, especially in helping to win the pivotal Battle of Britain.
But that wasn’t all Moore received on his centenary. An Army lieutenant colonel also attended Moore’s home to inform him of his appointment as honorary colonel. With now defining understatement, Moore responded, “I’m still Captain Tom. That’s who I really am, but, if people choose to call me colonel, well, thank you very much.”
The captain’s recognition is well due.
We must never forget his war service, after all. Moore’s record includes his service in the Pacific theater of operations. The captain-turned-colonel led soldiers in the Burma campaign and at the Battle of Ramree Island (where some Japanese soldiers faced not just a rejuvenated British army, but the rapacious appetite of certain swamp-dwelling creatures).
Yet it is Moore’s present service that so defines him. By showing Britons the enduring example of their finest spirit, that which sustained the nation during the darkest days of German aerial bombing and against expected imminent invasion, Moore made the coronavirus a cause for national unity.
Why the queen has not made him a knight of the realm isn’t clear. But I hope that day is coming soon.
