NEW AMERICAN LEGION MEMBER - On Sunday, Aug. 21, a couple of months shy of his 100th birthday World War II veteran Lou Moore was inducted into American Legion Post 348.

A recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Chinese-American veterans of WWII in 2021, Lou is looking forward to turning 100 so he can promote his memoir “Eternal Love” about his 74-year marriage to Nellie Hatsumi Mayeda Moore, a Japanese-American high school valedictorian who was held at the Gila Bend “relocation center."

Lou and Nellie met and married a couple of months after his honorable discharge in 1946. Lou served in the Army Air Force in the European theater of operations until after V-E Day. Moore’s book “Eternal Love” ranked on Amazon as “Best Asian American Autobiography.”

Richard Hayes, Post 348 commander, administered the oath.

Linda Evans Hayes informed Moore that the Legion Auxiliary would adopt him.

“May I kiss you on the cheek?” she asked.

“I was waiting,” he said. He added, “I have two cheeks.”

Chaplain Carl Hernandez gave the invocation. Representing Congressman Mike Garcia, a Navy veteran fighter pilot, veteran aide Christine Ward presented a certificate of recognition to Moore. Dennis Anderson, Los Angeles County veterans advisory commissioner and American Legion life member, helped coordinate the event.

“I want to thank you all for welcoming me into this family of veterans in American Legion Post 348,” Moore said. "It is an honor to be an American, to have served in World War II and to be here today."
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