It is only fitting that one of the many assignments that Lieutenant Commander Milton D. Moore, Jr., completed in his career with the United States Coast Guard included his assignment to the Cutter Westwind, an icebreaker that participated in Operation Deepfreeze in the Antarctic. This is true because Milton Moore, a JROTC Captain and track athlete, became a barrier breaker in many ways during his service with the Coast Guard. Beginning his military service as a seaman stationed at Cape May, New Jersey, he advanced through several ranks, at several bases from New Jersey to Newfoundland, from Bermuda to Vietnam, and from St. Louis, MO, where he completed a management degree from Webster College, to Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco, CA, where he became the first African American selected to command a United States Coast Guard base. During his USCG career, Milton received many awards for his impeccable service, including, among others, the CG Achievement Medal and Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation with Bronze Star, the National Defense Service Medal, the Antarctic Service Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnam Service Ribbon, and several others. He promoted the value of a diverse Coast Guard, and, in the words of one of those whom he mentored, “He was regarded as a strong leader, a highly capable professional, and a dedicated mentor…[;] … his legacy of courage, commitment, and resourcefulness will remain as a shining example for other Coast Guard members to emulate.”
Milton passed away in 2009 at the age of 68.