Willie Moe was born on June 16, 1913, to Sam and Selma Moe in New England, Hettinger County, North Dakota. Private First Class Moe enlisted in the Army on January 13, 1943, in Clinton County, AAF, Wilmington, Ohio. On November 27, 1943, he was a passenger on the H.M.T. Rohna which left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria, the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's piloted by Hans Doctermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.