Keith Moore remembered

(CBS 5 / AP) SAN FRANCISCO A U.S. soldier from San Francisco who volunteered for a more experienced unit to speed his deployment to Iraq was killed in a noncombat incident in Baghdad, military officials said Tuesday.

Army Pfc. Keith J. Moore, 28, who was stationed out of Fort Drum, N.Y., died Saturday and the incident remained under investigation, Department of Defense officials said in a written statement.

Moore's parents said the Army provided them with no more information about his death and that the investigation could last up to two months. He was one of 14 American casualties in Iraq this past weekend.

His parents spoke to CBS 5 in their Sunset District home on Tuesday. They said their son joined the Army looking for a challenge that would give him an opportunity to protect civilians.

"Keith was a very beautiful and brilliant young man," said Susan Turley of her son. "He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to do something worthwhile and meaningful with his life."

Moore joined the Army earlier this year and went to Iraq before the rest of his unit, his mother said. He had only spent two months there before he died.

"He talked the officers into letting him go early. He didn't want to just hang around the base. He wanted to do his job and serve his country," said Turley, who is a minister with the Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto.

Moore often called and e-mailed home and talked of going out on patrol for eight days at a time, said his father, Cliff Moore.

"He spoke of going on patrols and having the IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) shot at him and those kinds of things," Cliff Moore said.

While the Department of Defense would only say that her son died of "non-combat injuries," Turley wonders if her son's weapon was to blame.

"When he got to Iraq, it was so rusty, he had to clean it out, and there was a part on it that was broken. But he cleaned it. He cleaned it every day," Turley said. "We don't know if it had something to do with his death or not."

Moore was stationed out of Fort Drum, New York. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

Moore was born in Newton, Mass., and his family moved around the country before settling in San Francisco's Twin Peaks area in 1989.

He had graduated from the San Francisco's Woodside International School in 1995. Clifford Moore, Keith's father, said his son liked to play the songs of Jimi Hendrix and other rock musicians on his acoustic guitar.

Moore was not married and had no brothers or sisters. In addition to his parents, Moore is survived by his grandmothers, Peggy Moore of Richmond and Marilyn Turley of Olympia, Wash.

His funeral service is scheduled for Oct. 29 at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.

From CBS 5

Related Link:
Keith J. Moore killed in noncombat incident