When the president awarded Col. John Ripley a posthumous Medal of Honor on June 18, another man with Rockbridge ties was sitting in the press section.
Greg Moore, who was born in Lexington and grew up in Glasgow, was at the ceremony as a photojournalist for Roanoke’s WSLS-10 news station. Moore said after 37 years in television news, this was his first trip to the White House.
“I was quite shocked that everything went as well as it did,” he said. Moore got his start as a freelance photographer for The News-Gazette while he was still attending Natural Bridge High School. He said the experience was part of his journey to a career in journalism.
“Once I graduated, my whole goal was to be a newspaper photographer,” he said. “That didn’t work out.”
Moore instead transitioned to television news, first with WDBJ in Roanoke for 18 years, and then with WSLS, where he has now been for almost 20 years.
Ninth District Rep. Morgan Griffith informally invited a crew from WSLS to attend the Medal of Honor ceremony, Moore said. But they didn’t get an official invitation until noon on the day of the event.
“Luckily we were already in [Washington] D.C.,” Moore said. “We had to be at the White House at 1:10 to set up.”
He said he was nervous for his first time covering a story at the White House. But everything went smoothly.
“Everyone was super nice and it was made super easy,” he said. Moore said it was “special” that he got to visit the White House to cover Ripley, who lived and worked in the area where Moore grew up. He said the White House visit felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It’s an opportunity I wanted to take advantage of, regardless of what people think of politics,” Moore said. “It’s something that I’ll probably never get to do again.”
GREG MOORE, who got his start in journalism with The News-Gazette, stands outside the White House. (photos courtesy of Greg Moore)
