Some of you may know of the saga of the 99/100 year old British army veteran who decided he would do laps of his garden to raise funds for the National Health Service Charities in England. That veteran was named Tom Moore. He died today at age 100 from complications of pneumonia and covid-19.
Moore served in the China- India-Burma theater during the war. He participated in the Burma campaign as an officer in the 146th Royal Armor Regiment. After surviving a bout of duengue fever, he returned to England and became an instructor on Churchill tanks.
He earned the Burma medal, Defense medal, War Medal and 1939-1945 star while serving.
Captain Tom, as he was known, raised more than £34m during his campaign. In the 24-day course of his fundraising he made many media appearances and became a popular household name in the United Kingdom, earning a number of accolades and attracting over 1.5 million individual donations.
On the morning of his hundredth birthday the total raised by his walk passed £30 million, and by the time the campaign closed at the end of that day had increased to over £32.79 million.
His fundraising caught the eye of Queen Elizabeth. And shortly after his 100th birthday, the Queen invested Tom with a Knighthood, as a Knight Bachelor. That particular honor is typically bestowed on those who do great public service, however it is not one of the Chivalric honors.
Resquicat In Pace.