Sergeants will give orders after an $89M lottery win

Oct 3, 2003, 2:58 pm (4 comments)

Mega Millions

Danielle and Tirrell Moore have 150 million reasons to quit the Army and return to civilian life.

The couple bought the winning ticket for the Mega Millions multistate lottery and won a $150 million jackpot while on leave from South Korea.

They chose to receive a lump-sum payment of $88.9 million and now plan to ask the Army for releases.

Tirrell Moore, 30, is a chemical decontamination specialist with the 520th Maintenance Company. His wife has served as a helicopter electronic technician with C Company, 52nd Aviation Regiment. They are both staff sergeants.

"It makes no sense to stay in the Army," Tirrell Moore said Thursday. "I have loved it. I'm just going to relax and get my head together."

Danielle Moore added: "I love the military. I'm not so sure if it's as easy for me to give it up as it is for him, but I have to go with my heart and my husband."

The couple were married in a civil ceremony eight years ago while stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y.

With the new infusion of cash, the 27-year-old from Tampa said she wants to renew their vows in a church.

"It will be a party," Tirrell Moore said.

Tirrell Moore said he walked into a Flash Foods store in Fitzgerald, Ga., and plunked down a dollar for a lottery ticket because he was tired of waiting outside in the cold while his brother and a friend shopped for snacks.

And even though he'd told friends before leaving for Fitzgerald that he'd win the lottery while he was home, he had never played the game seriously.

He didn't even bother checking the lottery results Tuesday night to see whether he'd won.

Moore found out he was a winner when he came home late Tuesday night and found his wife waiting in the yard.

"She came out the door and I thought I was in trouble," he said. "She said, 'Guess what, we won the lottery!'"

Danielle Moore had checked the results online. The couple went inside and began calling relatives.

"That's when the comedy started," Moore said.

The Moores are due to return to South Korea on Oct. 16.

They say they may ask for an extension considering their change of fortunes.

In the meantime, Tirrell Moore plans to do plenty of fishing while home in the south Georgia town where he grew up.

"We have some time for the dream wedding. But fishing, that's what's coming up soon," he said. "It's relaxing, nobody bothering you and you can listen to the water."

"I told my mom to go ahead and quit work," Tirrell Moore said. He also plans to build a home for his wife and two daughters.

Annette Moore Crawford, 47, said from her Fitzgerald home that despite her son's offer, she plans to return to work as a clerk at a hardware distribution center - but in a Mercedes, if she can persuade her son to buy her one.








The Associated Press

Danielle and Tirrell Moore, seated, with Tirrell's mom, Annette, are now planning to leave Army.






AP

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dvdiva's avatardvdiva

the odds of him getting out early are less than his odds of winning but it is nice a service member won

MrSteel01's avatarMrSteel01

Stationed there in 65/66 GOD KNOWS IT CHANGED!

mken35's avatarmken35

Now we have army lottery winners, Now it's my turn to win. GO NAVY

Thanks danielle and Tirelle for hope.. Keep HOPe alive Keep hope alive. I'll win the one of these 150 to 250 million jackpot  KEEP HOPE ALIVE (that sound like Jessie Jackson quote)

abaconw

I don't know, the fact that this has to be disruptive to a routine Army life could well put him out for the sake of the Army.  I mean, how many times will what ever he may be working on be disrupted by someone coming up and asking for money or how disruptive if someone is not able to work well with him because they are upset that he won't do this, that, or the other for him with all his money?

I can see a lot of reasons why the government also would want him out of the service now simply because it will be too disruptive to have someone that rich working with those who are not.  Then there is the chance that he could do something to get a dishonorable discharge if he wanted to get out bad enough since for someone with that amount of money they wouldn't have to worry about what type of discharge they received as long as they received one.

If nothing else, the moral of the people he works with could be destroyed by him working out of a tool box with tools the rest of them could never begin to think of owning or using.

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