Kyle Campbell Moore was born December 11, 1908 in Knoxville, Tennessee, son of John Thomas Moore and Virena Meigs. The family lived in Knoxville where his father worked as an engineer. He had a younger sister and brother.

Written by Robert Wilson on military.trader.com: "Kyle Campbell "Kasey" Moore had been quite a young athlete. He was a most valuable player in football for two years at Knoxville High School as well as the city tennis champion for two years. He went on to become a professional photographer and reporter in civilian life. He entered the University of Tennessee as a pre-medical student, but the Great Depression made it impossible to continue. He began a job as a city reporter for The Knoxville Journal. Moore developed into a good reporter and outstanding photographer. He even became the southeastern representative for The New York Times and Hearst’s International News Service. During this time as a reporter, Moore met his future wife, Katherine Davis, a journalism student

Moore was commissioned a Lieutenant (jg) on 8 December 1941 and graduated from Midshipmen’s School in July 1942. Kyle and Katherine were married on July 23, 1942. A week later, he reported in the Aleutians for duty aboard the cruiser, USS Indianapolis.

Admiral Raymond Spruance, whose usual flagship was the Indianapolis, ordered Kasey to serve as photographer and create combat films with the Marine Corps from 1943 to December 1944. In this role, Kasey covered Tarawa, Kwajalein, Majuro, Eniwetok, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Peleliu. In April 1943, Kasey was promoted to Lt. Commander and named officer-in-charge of the hull department (construction, repairs and damage control). Following a kamikaze attack in March 1945, Moore was able to repair the ship in time to get it to San Francisco to take aboard components and uranium for the first atomic weapon, “Little Boy,” which the ship delivered to Tinian Island on 26 July 1945.

After a quick stop at Guam on the way to Leyte, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-58 around midnight on 30 July 1945. Lt. Commander Moore was on the bridge as supervisor-of-the-watch. Twice, he went below to survey the damage, after which he advised the captain to abandon the ship. Kasey was last seen below decks – waist-deep in water trying to save his beloved ship."

His name appears on the monument at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, the Philippines and on the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial, Knoxville, Tennessee. A military headstone is in the Knoxville National Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Fold3.

References:

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=112243

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39988146

Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Delayed Birth Records, 1869-1909

1910; Census Place: Park Ward 3, Knox, Tennessee; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0106

1920; Census Place: Knoxville Ward 15, Knox, Tennessee; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 105

1930; Census Place: Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee; Page: 25A; Enumeration District: 0038

1940; Census Place: Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 97-73

Ancestry.com. U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985

https://www.militarytrader.com/militaria-collectibles/lt-commander-kasey-moore-went-uss-indianapolis

Vincent, Lynn, "Indianapolis,"Simon & Schuster, NY, 2018

https://etvma.org/veterans/glenn-e-miller-7939/

Kyle C Moore