The 100-year-old Army veteran who became a national icon through a popular fund-raiser for Britain’s health care system died on Tuesday.
The messages of condolences have come from Queen Elizabeth, England’s national soccer team and a member of the British pop group One Direction. As the news spread on Tuesday that Tom Moore had died, countless tributes poured in for the spry and optimistic 100-year-old Army veteran who raised millions of pounds for Britain’s National Health Service through charity walks last year. Mr. Moore’s mischievous smile appeared on every television channel in Britain, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was a national inspiration. “Captain Sir Tom Moore was a hero in the truest sense of the word,” Mr. Johnson said on Tuesday on Twitter. “In the face of this country’s deepest post war crisis he united us all, he cheered us all up, and he embodied the triumph of the human spirit.” Mr. Moore’s death blunted the optimism that had emerged in recent days around reports that the country’s adult population could be vaccinated within months, and that Britain could return to some kind of normality before the summer. In London, the Union flag was lowered to half-staff at 10 Downing Street, the home of the prime minister, and lawmakers paid tribute to Mr. Moore during a parliamentary session. Wembley Stadium, Britain’s largest stadium which has remained empty for months, lit up on Tuesday evening with a tribute to Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore was hospitalized on Sunday after being treated for pneumonia in recent weeks and testing positive for the coronavirus. His death was announced on his Twitter account, which drew hundreds of thousands of reactions in a few hours. António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, who met Mr.
