"Felton Soldier Recommended For Promotion For His Action Under Fire In Daring Raid Against Reds" noted the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Donald Stewart Moran was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1929, to a Mr. and Mrs. Moran. No information has surfaced as to Donald's childhood or possible siblings. His mother later married Ward Bourgeois, and Donald joined them in their Los Angeles home.

About 1946, Donald Moran enlisted in the US Army, completed basic training and remained in uniform for the next two years. Upon his discharge he moved to the Boulder Creek-Felton area of Santa Cruz County, where his parents had relocated. During the ensuing years, he lived and worked in the San Lorenzo Valley.

Donald Moran re-enlisted in the US Army during the late 1940s. Upon his reentry into the military he was given the rank of corporal and assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. His fiancée, Sally Daley of Felton, joined him in Seattle, where the two were married. Moran was sent to Korea in late July 1950 and Sally returned to Felton where she worked at a local bakery.

When the 2nd Infantry Division arrived in Korea on August 4, 1950, the 38th Regiment was ordered to hold a portion of the Pusan Perimeter on the Naktong River. It was at this location in September that Donald Moran earned the Silver Star for action under fire. Moran had earned the award for helping "cover four daring infantrymen with accurate fire that were attempting a swimming raid against barges on the Naktong River." In addition to the award, Moran was promoted to Sergeant.

By November 1950, the 2nd Infantry Division had broken out of the Pusan Perimeter and advanced to within 30 miles of the Yalu River border between North Korea and China. During this period, Donald Moran was promoted to Sergeant First Class.

The Chinese Communist Army officially entered the Korean War on November 29, 1950, and attacked UN forces with an army consisting of 380,000 troops. While attempting to hold off this onslaught near Kunu-ri on November 29, 1950, Sergeant First Class Donald S. Moran became Missing in Action. That classification was officially changed to Presumed Dead on December 31, 1953. For his service in Korea he was posthumously promoted to master sergeant and awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. His remains were never recovered.

(ABMC; NARAK; SCSn August 18, 1950 1:2, SCSn January 12, 1951 1:6; 2nd Infantry Division, Korean War Veterans Alliance, Inc, Kunuri, http://www.2id.org/kunuri-history.htm, [16 September 2008])