MORELAND, WHITT L. (1930–1951). Whitt L. Moreland, Medal of Honor winner, was born in Waco, Texas, on March 7, 1930, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd W. Moreland. He entered the military service in Austin. Private First Class Moreland was an intelligence scout attached to Company C, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division, at Kwangch'i-Dong, Korea, on May 29, 1951. He was accompanying a rifle platoon in an assault against a strongly defended hill position of the aggressor forces, which his accurate rifle fire helped to take. Afterward, he led a party to neutralize an enemy bunker 400 meters beyond. Crossing the fire-swept area, he had almost reached the hostile position when the enemy launched a volley of hand grenades on his group. Heedless of the danger, Moreland kicked several of the grenades off the ridge line where they exploded harmlessly. While attempting to kick another away, he slipped and fell. Aware that the grenade would explode before he could regain his footing and dispose of it, he shouted a warning to his comrades and covered it with his body. He absorbed the full blast of the explosion, but in so doing saved his companions from possible injury or death, and was himself killed. Moreland is buried in the Whittington Cemetery at Mount Ida, Arkansas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Committee on Veterans' Affairs, United States Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients, 1863–1973 (Washington: GPO, 1973).
