Terry “Mother” Moy

Terry Moy joined the Navy at 17 years old and served for 23 years, including a stunning five tours of Vietnam. Moy earned his moniker “Mother” during his five-year stint as a Navy SEAL instructor at the Navy Special. The term was applied to Moy because, as candidates said, “he really knew how to bring up the children” meaning, he knew how to forge them into the kind of individuals the Navy needed as SEALs—ones who would not quit.

Former governor of Minnesota and Navy SEAL, Jesse Ventura (BUD/S Class 58) said of Moy as his instructor, “I respected him, I admired him, I was terrified of him, and unfortunately, he was the only one I saw for the five weeks of BUD/S training.”

As Navy SEAL instructor, Moy also devised one of the most iconic symbols of BUD/S and Navy SEAL lore, the infamous bell. Ubiquitous today, but prior to his reign, when SEAL candidates quit, they would just walk off the training—a relatively easy way out. Moy figured that if candidates had to make more of a public declaration—like ringing a bell for all to hear—it would make them think twice before they did it. A replica of the original bell has been donated to Navy SEAL Museum San Diego by the children of Terry “Mother” Moy. His children wish to honor his commitment to duty, and for having the ingenuity to put such a device within the “The Grinder.”

Terry Moy was also part of the recovery of the Apollo 17 reentry capsule in 1972. He and his fellow SEALs waited from a hovering helicopter until the module splashed down in the southern Pacific Ocean. Then they jumped into the water to retrieve the module and free the three astronauts inside.

Terry Moy at 85, lives near his home town of Newport RI, with his wife Rose and continues to visit the Navy Special Warfare Center once a year.

Figure 3 Instructor Terry Moy encouraging a SEAL candidate