Bend WWII veteran, B-17 tail gunner passes at age 98
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Arthur Herbert Moon passed away this past week after a long and memorable 98 years.
The World War II veteran served as a tail gunner for the B-17s throughout Europe.
NewsChannel 21 spoke Monday with his son, Thane Moon, to learn more about the man, and the hero he called his father.
Moon said his father had incredible work ethic and ambition, but life did not start out easy.
"He should have been the worst person in the world, based on how he grew up," Moon said. "He lost both his parents by the the time he was 7 years old."
Both his parents died from tuberculosis.
Moon and his brother, Bob, were then raised by his grandmother and later his aunt in Hubbard, Oregon, after spending time in a tuberculosis sanitarium.
After graduating from high school, Moon began to work in the shipyards of Portland, and in 1942 decided to join the war efforts in the Army Air Corps.
Throughout his military career, he received several honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Good Conduct Medal.
His son said his father's time in the war was rough.
Moon was a part of the infamous Schweinfurt air raid bombings that the U.S. initiated in an attempt to cripple the German aircraft industry.
After his service, Moon began working in the lumber industry.
During that time, he was married to his wife, Frances, for nearly 60 years before she passed in 2003.
Upon retirement, Moon stayed active by skiing, swimming, mountain climbing, and even golfing five days a week until he was 90.
We asked his son Thane, what can we learn from his father?
"Persevere," Moon said. "There's a lot of things in this world that people don't want to do, but you've got to do it. You've got to have perseverance to get through the bad things, in order to get to the good stuff."
