Army Spc. Benjamin G. Moore

Died January 12, 2011 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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23, of Robbinsville, N.J.; assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Jan. 12 in Ghelan, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Cpl. Jarrid L. King and Staff Sgt. Omar Aceves.

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Pfc. had history of service in his hometown

By Shruti Mathur Desai

(Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post

BORDENTOWN, N.J. — Benjamin Moore had a strong sense of duty and service.

It spurred him to serve with a volunteer fire company at just 16 years old, and led him to join the Army two years ago.

“His main beliefs were his family and community service,” said Capt. Ken Mortello, who served with Moore at the Hope Hose Humane Fire Company.

Army Pfc. Benjamin Moore, 23, was killed in Afghanistan on Jan. 12.

The Defense Department said Jan. 13 that Moore and two other soldiers were killed in Ghazni province. They suffered fatal wounds when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

All were assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

A seven-year member of the fire company, Moore was remembered by his fellow firefighters as a jokester.

“If he saw someone serious, he tried to make him smile,” said Mortello, who also serves as a firefighter for the Defense Department.

Mortello said Moore knew how to push people’s buttons. He saw Moore grow from a young teenager into a more emotionally developed young man, a maturation helped by his time in the military, Mortello said.

Moore talked about becoming a career firefighter or some other form of emergency services, according to Mortello. He had the chops for it.

“When he left here on a military leave of absence he was our fire lieutenant,” Mortello recalled.

“He was well liked. To be in that position, you have to be trusted by your colleagues.”

Mortello said he had no doubt Moore had the same rapport with his fellow soldiers in the Army.

The close-knit river community is mourning the loss of one of its own — a municipality where to be a Bordentownian, you must be born in the community, Mortello said.

Moore was a Bordentownian.

“He was an integral part of our team,” Mortello said. “I lost more than a friend, I lost a brother.”

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‘We will never forget him’

By Julie Shannon

(Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post

BORDENTOWN CITY, N.J. — Hundreds of family members, friends, fellow service members and others came together on Jan. 22 to remember Army Spc. Benjamin G. Moore, killed in Afghanistan on Jan. 12.

Inside Trinity United Methodist Church, every pew and open space was filled to with people there to honor the fallen soldier. Two servicemen stood on opposite sides of Moore’s casket like watchdogs protecting their leader.

Outside the church, hundreds more stood on Farnsworth Avenue, bundled from head-to-toe in the frigid weather, clutching American flags tightly to their chest. Three women held a banner that read, “Thank You Ben.”

Moore was among three soldiers who were killed when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

As well as being part of the Army, Moore was a firefighter and an EMT with the Hope Hose Humane Company of Bordentown City. He joined the fire company when he was 16.

The 2006 Bordentown Regional High School graduate received many awards including the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the NATO Medal.

“I learned a lot about Benjamin right out of the gate,” said the Rev. Thomas C. Miller at the funeral service. “As I learned more and more, the more I liked him.”

Moore was well known for his gentle kindness, courage and the way he would do any job asked of him at any given moment.

Miller turned to Bordentown Mayor Tom Lynch and said, “Did you ever wonder about him campaigning against you one day?”

Later in the service, Lynch proclaimed, “Ben is our mayor today.”

Miller remembered Moore for being a team player who had “such purpose” in life.

“He was the one helping others,” he said profoundly. “Do you see what God did with his life?”

One by one, family and friends got up to speak about the fallen comrade. Some talked about how dedicated he was to his community and how much he loved being a part of the fire company. Others spoke of his outgoing personality that would get others in trouble, not him.

“Somehow, somewhere, he would always get you in trouble,” one friend said with a laugh that enabled others to laugh with him. “But he was a good man, a good person and we’ll never forget him.”

Another friend said Moore helped people as much as he could for the right reasons.

“He didn’t help because it was the right thing to do, he did it because he wanted to,” one friend said.

After the service, service members carried his flag-draped casket onto one of the city’s fire trucks before driving past hundreds of mourners.

It was preceded by a police escort, firefighters and the Warrior Watch Riders motorcycle group.

As his cousin Jacob Archer put it, “He knew what he was getting in to, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice.”