I am thrilled to hear from Robert "Bob" Duffy's son. After Colonel Coughlin, my father (mhrip) talked about your dad more than anyone else in the 38th. He also wasn't the kind of person who dished out compliments fairly easy, so this was HIGH PRAISE. Even in his 90's he remembered your father as the band organizer and was its leader.
Did you attend any of the reunions in the 60's and 70's? The one that still stays with me was at Ft. Belvoir. Till this day the image of the 38th hugging each other like they were family members has never left me. I have never seen my father embrace family members like he did that afternoon. I even shook a generals hand though I have no idea who the person was.
Thank you for brightening my day as I still try to find out new information about the 38th and its history. If you ever feel like talking about what my father taught me and other things about the 38th I would love to hear from you.
As far as I know, William Moore is still alive at age 100+. I briefly email with his daughter about once a year and the last time she told me his memory is starting to fade which is to be expected to a person that age. When I spoke to him our conversation lasted almost two hours and it wasn't filled with "fluff". He is an amazing man that keeps the story of the 38th alive and still in the conversation.
Below is one of my favorite pictures that were taken away from battle yet means a great deal to me. My dad used to tell me how he would give away a significant amount of his rations to the local population. As you can see many of the people from that era were emaciated. To me, this was another side of the war that never really was written about strongly. Human compassion meant a lot to my dad and all the members of the 38th. Even though this picture is almost 75 years old it carries a great message. GOOD will almost always TRIUMPH over evil though it might take some time.
