Dobie Moore with the 25th Infantry Wreckers in 1916
Long-time readers of this blog will remember my nearly decade-long effort at chronicling the search for Walter “Dobie” Moore, the great Kansas City Monarchs shortstop who was shot in 1926 and subsequently dropped out of sight. When I last wrote about this in 2016, we had established the case, pretty much beyond a reasonable doubt, that Dobie Moore the ballplayer and Walter Moore of Detroit, who died on August 20, 1947, were the same person.
But of course it is always helpful to have confirmation. Up to the plate steps Karl Jensen, who also does research for the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States, locating the grave sites of Medal of Honor recipients. First, Karl found the 1919 World War I service card for Walter Moore of Atlanta, who enlisted at Georgia’s Fort Oglethorpe on May 11, 1915, at the age of 22 and two months. He then served in Company A of the 25th Infantry until June, 1919, and was discharged “for immediate re-enlistment”—which of course fits Dobie Moore’s career in the Army.
(Moore evidently did re-enlist immediately, as in January 1920 he appears in the U.S. census with the 25th Infantry at Camp Stephen D. Little in Arizona. I really don’t know much about military records, so I am curious about whether there is another record somewhere that shows this last period of service. He apparently re-upped for an additional year, as he and Bullet Rogan first played for the Kansas City Monarchs in early July, 1920.)
Then Karl found Moore’s Veterans Administration Master Index Card. The dates, unit, and serial number—335,099—all match. It gives a birth date of February 8, 1893—Moore, like Rogan, evidently lied about his age when he enlisted—and a clerk has penciled in his date of death: August 20, 1947, the date Walter Moore died in Detroit.
I was already quite sure we had the right person, but thanks to Karl, this should lay to rest any lingering doubts.
If you want to go back and follow the process from the beginning, here are the relevant links:
- Why all published birth and death information for Dobie Moore is wrong (October 20, 2007)
- Walter Moore’s WW2 draft card found (October 23, 2007)
- Image of Walter Moore’s WW2 draft card (February 8, 2013)
- Walter Moore’s death record found (April 30, 2013)
- Dobie Moore at George Carr funeral 1948 (April 30, 2013)
- Copy of Walter Moore’s death certificate; second 1948 sighting of Dobie Moore (May 9, 2013)
- 1924 passenger list found (May 17, 2014)
- Dobie Moore’s younger brother Allen “Pete” Moore was also a professional ballplayer (January 29, 2016)
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