Moore also co-wrote the lyrics with Barry Sadler for the Ballad of the Green Berets, which was one of the major hit songs of 1966.
At the time of his death, Moore was residing in Hopkinsville, Kentucky (home to Fort Campbell and the 5th Special Forces Group) where he was working on his memoirs as well as three other books.
During World War II he served as a nose gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying combat missions in the European Theater of Operations. Moore graduated from Harvard College in 1949.
Thanks to connections with fellow Harvard graduate, Robert F. Kennedy, Moore was allowed access to the U.S. Army Special Forces. It was General William P. Yarborough who insisted that Moore go through special forces training in order to better understand "what makes Special Forces soldiers 'special'." He trained for nearly a year, first at "jump school" before completing the [[Special Forces Qualification Course]] or "Q Course", becoming the first civilian to participate in such an intensive program. Afterward, Moore was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group on deployment to South Vietnam. His experiences in South East Asia formed the basis for ''The Green Berets.
Enjoyed this one quite a bit, maybe slightly overwritten but fun anyway. Force Nine is only known to the president and is a force of highly specialized individuals. They are put to the task of defeating a highly guarded North African dictator and making it look like a revolution. Also, they are to whisk away a professor that the KGB happens to want as well from the US embassy and out of the country. It's a highly detailed plan that could go wrong at any minute, and it's written well enough to keep you wondering whether they will pull it off.
Highly recommended, again, it's a tad long and could have been edited down a bit. Reminds me of the better written. Able Teams, Phoenix Forces, and Stony Mans, just longer.