Frederick Moore thought it was unfair of Uncle Sam to draft him into the Army in 1959.

"I was a little upset," he said. "Out of all my little homies, I was the only one working. They were hanging out on the corners. When I got out, they were still right there."

Work was important to Moore. He had worked since he was 8 and his father died when he was 14. He was one of nine children.

Moore said he started to accept the two years ahead of him when a sergeant at Fort Knox told him during basic training, "You might as well make the best of the situation. The Army can hurt you more than you can hurt the Army.

"I changed my attitude," he told Farrell eighth-grade civics students of James Cardamon Tuesday. "I decided to make the best of it."

The change in attitude set up Moore for history. He became the first black to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Vir.

The Cleveland man said he was eligible for honor guard duty because of his "exceptionally high" scores on a battery of tests administered during basic training, and his size, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds.

"I said yes without any idea what I was saying yes to," said Moore, 65. "I had no idea what honor guard was."

Moore second-guessed his decision when others were shipped to Germany, Alaska and Korea, and he was assigned to Arlington, Vir.

"I thought I wanted to go to Germany," he said.

The honor guard marched in parades, fired salutes at military funerals, took part in President Kennedy’s inauguration and were on hand when Kennedy welcomed foreign dignitaries.

He accepted duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier without knowing he would make history.

"I just assumed we had blacks everywhere else," he said. "I didn’t know I was going to be the one. That’s what made my first day so memorable and without any pressure."

Moore was glad that his superiors did not tell him that no other blacks had served in his position before.

"I probably would have put undue pressure on myself," he said. "I didn’t know until Ebony magazine came down to interview me."

As a tomb guard, Moore and others from the 3rd Infantry Regiment had a very strict set of guidelines to follow. They were not to react to anyone, unless someone went within the chain that kept people back from the tomb. They marched on specific counts and the men -- women now also have served -- had to move in unison.

Moore said while only one person ever went past the chain while he was on duty -- a boy who quickly retreated when Moore dropped his rifle in front of the boy -- he was constantly challenged by tourists.

Women would try to give him their telephone numbers and ask for dates. Men, jealous from the attention the women lavished on the unresponsive soldiers, would "tear him down." People would tell jokes and watch their timepieces to tell him he was late. Insects buzzed his face.

Responding to comments and shooing away insects would have been grounds for dismissal from tomb duty. Moore said the hardest part was staying focused throughout the hour-long daylight shifts and two-hour night shifts.

"The job we were doing, we took such pride in it that nothing bothered us," he said, adding that’s today’s guards serve in 30-minute shifts.

"I didn’t want to do anything that disgraced the tomb. Once you became a tomb guard, you weren’t allowed any mistakes. If you made a mistake, you were relieved. The seriousness of the job is the important thing."

Moore "walked the mat" at the tomb from March to August 1961, when he was discharged.

Moore told the students that even though he wasn’t happy with being drafted, his willingness to work hard while in the Army made it a positive experience.

"When the call came, I was prepared," he said, accompanied by his wife of 40 years, Joyce. "Everything I did in my company I did to the best of my ability. That’s all anyone can ask.

"Be prepared. Prepare yourself for whatever you want to get into. Once you make up your mind what you want to get into, let no one deter you. You have the opportunity to go further than any generation before you."

Moore said the students need to work past obstacles, even family ones.

"Don’t let that be an excuse," he said of single-parent families.

While Moore, an employee of the Cuyahoga County Auditor’s Office, is willing to share his story, it is only through the efforts of his wife that he gets the opportunity.

"If it hadn’t been for her, very few people would know about it," he said. Moore said his accomplishment was meager considering the sacrifices others have made for the country.