Interviewer: Terrica Moore

Interviewee: Grady Moore

I interviewed my grandfather. His name is Grady Moore. My grandfather is retired now, but he is a troop leader during his story. He was actually a leader of his cabin in the Korean War. My grandfather is 73 years old, but when he was in the army he was 23 years old. My grandpa believes that everyone should be treated equal no matter the race. This is how my grandpa’s story related to me.

My grandpa was a man that faced civil rights everyday. One day my grandpa and some other soldiers were watching a movie at a movie theater.  Well, the white soldiers didn’t want the black soldiers in the same theater as them. They threw popcorn and pops on them while they called them outside of their names.  My grandpa doesn’t like being called out of is name so he acted on instinct and hit one of the white soldiers. A fight broke out because of that and of course he got punished for it. My grandpa was eating lunch when his friend Porsha came over to him. “Drew kicked all of your stuff in the floor and in the hallways”, he quickly said to grandpa. My grandpa stayed calm and continued to eat his lunch. He told Porsha that he would handle it. My grandpa was to be the leader of his cabin, but a white boy named Drew didn’t want to take orders from my grandpa. So he took matters in his own hands and threw my grandpa’s stuff all over the place. My grandpa was trying to be calm about the situation and ask Drew to pick up his stuff. Drew wasn’t having it. Some Mexicans from another cabin came and told Drew to pick up the stuff or they would kill him. Drew didn’t believe them so the Mexicans pulled out knives and blades. Drew, of course, picked up my grandpa’s stuff, but he told on my grandpa. My grandpa was punished even longer for that, but he still got to be a leader.  He also stood up for himself and he said he wouldn’t change anything he did.

After hearing this story, it made me appreciate my grandpa more. I never knew he went through those sorts of things. This interview has made me learn things about my grandpa that I never knew before. My grandpa doesn’t let anything stay in his way and that’s why I admire him for that.