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Garland W. Collier graduated from Coleman High School in 1938. He was employed at the Civilian Conservation Corps in Arizona working in the mines.

He enlisted in Phoenix, Arizona on 1 September 1942.

Sgt Garland W. Collier participated on the D-Day landings in Normandy.

He was killed by a mortar shell that exploded right on top of Sgt Collier who was hiding in his foxhole.

His remains were never properly identified in order to determine the exact burial location. Army investigations conducted after WWII deemed his remains as unrecoverable.

His name on the Walls of the Missing shows that he is from Arizona because he enlisted from there in 1942. However, he was from Texas.

He is remembered on a plaque at Smachtkamp 89, Opheusen, The Netherlands.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 24 June 2022 that Sgt. Garland W. Collier was accounted for on 15 June 2022.

Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, conducted several searches of the area, but by 1950, none of the remains found around Opheusden could be identified as Collier. He was declared non-recoverable in November 1950.

In 2015, DPAA historians began working on a comprehensive research and recovery project focused on those missing from Operation MARKET GARDEN. During that work, they analyzed information about X-3324 Neuville, an unknown set of remains recovered from the civilian cemetery in Opheusden in 1946 and buried in what is today known as Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium. Following a multidisciplinary analysis from DPAA historians, forensic anthropologists, and odontologists, it was determined X-3324 could possibly be Collier. These remains were disinterred in April 2019 and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.

To identify Collier’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Collier’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Sgt Collier was buried on 12 November 2022 at White Chapel Cemetery in Whitney, Coleman County, Texas.