1st Lieutenant
First Lieutenant Larry Gene Moody was born in Dell Jan. 24, 1941. After graduating from Dell High School as the valedictorian, he attended then-Arkansas State College and received a Bachelor Science degree in mathematics in 1962. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army branched infantry.
Shortly after graduation, Moody was sent to Korea for a year and then returned and attended schools at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Bragg, N.C. He completed the military assistance training adviser course and he was deployed to Vietnam.
On July 8, 1965, a Viet Cong ambush wiped out the major portion of a Vietnamese government battalion near Saigon. Lt. Moody, an adviser with the ADV Team 70, HQ, MACV Advisors, was one of four U.S. advisers with the battalion. The ambush occurred as the battalion was rushing to relieve a besieged outpost at Xan Dua in Binh Duong Province. The enemy was waiting for the reinforcements. Lt. Moody was reported missing and ultimately declared dead in 1965.
Lt. Moody, who was 24-years-old, was survived at the time by his father L.M. Moody, three sisters Mrs. R.V. Cordell, Mrs. Marcella Calhoun and Mrs. Billy Keener, as well as two brothers L.M. Moody Jr. and A.G. Moody.
