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Personal info

Full name
PYLE, Wilbur Carleton
Date of birth
21 October 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Liberty, Clay County, Missouri
Hometown
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas

Military service

Service number
18198599
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
unknown
Unit
C Company,
1st Battalion,
134th Infantry Regiment,
35th Infantry Division
Awards
Distinguished Service Cross,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
8 January 1945
Place of death
Lutrebois, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg
Plot Row Grave
E 12 32

Immediate family

Members
Henry C. Pyle (father)
Vivian E. (Wooster) Pyle (mother)
Norma V. Pyle (sister)

More information

S/Sgt Wilbur C. Pyle graduated from Corpus Christi High School and attended A&I College. He was employed at Brown Bellows Columbia at the U.S. Naval Air Base at Corpus Christi.

He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Kingsville, Texas on 15 October 1942.

S/Sgt Pyle was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The citation cited: For exemplary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Pevange, France, 14 November 1944." His company had encountered a series of defensive enemy foxholes near a village. The heavily-manned emplacements were halting the drive on Pevange. Sgt Pyle unhesitatingly advanced facing enemy fire every few yards. He took three prisoners from the first foxhole and sent them to the rear. He cautiously maneuvered to the second dugout, and third and tossed a few grenades that netted him two more prisoners. Still advancing, he lobbed grenades into the fourth foxhole and nabbed another prisoner. His company took its objective.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, After Action Report 35th Infantry Division, www.findagrave.com – Eric Ackerman

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Luxembourg American Cemetery, Corpus Christi Times - 2 February 1945, Texas A & I - 1943