The McAllen school board voted on Dec. 13 to rename its Junior ROTC building after the late Lt. Col. Richard H. Moore.
The board launched an effort to rename the building earlier this semester.
A nominations committee received nine nominations for Moore and three for the late Moises Sanchez, a state trooper from the Rio Grande Valley who died after being shot in the line of duty in 2019, selecting Moore unanimously through a scoring system Dec. 1.
Moore served as a Marine for 22 years, seeing combat in Vietnam and returning as a decorated veteran.
After his military service, Moore was the JROTC senior Marine instructor at McAllen Memorial High, nomination committee spokesperson Mario Lozoya said.
“He mentored hundreds and perhaps thousands of cadets during his educational career and forged a legacy of leadership, honor, integrity, commitment, loyalty and above all, service,” he said.
Many of the nominations noted Moore’s impact in that role, Lozoya said, as a role model and father figure.
“Still today, there are a lot of homes, especially in certain parts of McAllen that don’t have two parents at home, and so Lt. Col. Moore served as a father figure to many,” he said, noting that Moore had been a mentor to him.
Moore was active in veterans groups and with the community, Lozoya said. He died in Harlingen in 2007 at the age of 70.
Speaking to members of the nominating committee, trustees reflected on their own patriotic sentiments and the importance of the naming.
“This particular naming of this building for me is very important,” board Trustee Sofia Peña said. “My brother is a Marine, and my biggest regret in life was not going to the Marines. To this day I regret that … but I’m so proud of everything Lt. Col. Moore did, and thank you for your diligence and the hard work on this. And I’m really super proud and happy that we have our name, an official name, for this building.”
