HomeMy WebLinkAboutWWII Prog KyleWOOD BARBEE KYLE
U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
2nd Lt. - Maj. Gen., Pacific Theatre, Viet Nam
At Tarawa we "simply picked up anybody we could find -- and we joined them up and carried on the fight."
Wood B. Kyle accepted appointment as a Marine Second Lieutenant on July 11, 1936 after graduating with honors from Texas A&M. Following a tradition started during the Civil War when
his grandfather served as Captain of Company D in Terry’s Texas Rangers; Wood, his father, and brother were Captains of Company D in the Corps of Cadets at A&M.
Kyle served with the 2nd Marine Brigade at Shanghai, China October 1937 to April 1938, on the USS Lexington in 1939 - 1940, and in the Pacific during World War II.
When his battalion commander was seriously wounded at Guadalcanal, Major Kyle assumed command, refusing evacuation for his own wounds. Already a decorated combat leader with responsibility
for 1000 Marines, he was 27 years old and was awarded the Silver Star Medal for heroism during this campaign.
At Tarawa my Dad earned his second Silver Star Medal for courageous leadership when he personally led his men in an attack on the heavily defended central sector of the island. The assault
on Tarawa was one of most violent amphibious assaults by the Marines in the Pacific, averaging 50% casualties; nearly all suffered in three days -- a miracle that Dad survived.
After participating in campaigns at Saipan and Tinian, Lieutenant Colonel Kyle returned to the U.S. in October 1944. Some will remember the Saipan/Tinian operation as securing the airfield
for the Enola Gay.
The Marine history describes “one of the most sickening stories of the war has come out of the Saipan campaign, namely the account of hundreds of suicides in the Marpi point area. The
interviewer described some of the Marines crying as they watched.
Major General Kyle subsequently retired from active duty after 32 years of service August 31, 1968.
The words of Wood Kyle can be read in their entirety on Project HOLD.
His account only hints at the high stakes of those battles, given the routine tone of the veteran. It was a desperate struggle, won by acts of individual courage within an extraordinary
military organization: the U.S. Marines. My Dad, Wood Kyle represents the best of them.
Al S. Kyle, BSEE Duke, MBA, MPA Harvard
Andover, Massachusetts
WWII Prog Kyle