Memorial

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Pfc Kyle M. Galyean enlisted at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on 10 March 1942.

On 15 September 1944, at Vittonville, France, three men of C Company were reported Missing in Action, though that was not officially recognized until 18 September. One of those men was Pfc. Kyle Galyean. C company had experienced heavy artillery the entire day, with some small arms opposition. The mission was mission to cross the Moselle River that day and move on.

There is no record of who recovered his remains, but he was apparently not recovered until 22 or 23 September - a week after he had been killed. He was buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery at Andilly, France.

His sister Blanche Jennings was his next of kin, and she decided that his final resting place should be in France. Thus in July 1947, he was exhumed and given his final resting place at Lorraine Cemetery.

In October 2008, a WWII historian, Jean Laurent, found a US soldier's helmet near Vittonville and contacted the 7th Armored Division Association Historian & Web Master Wesley Johnston. The key to identifying the helmet was on the strap at the back of the helmet, where G-4483 could still be seen faintly. Soldiers would identify their belongings by using the first letter of their last name and the last four digits of their Army Serial Number. Kyle Galyean's serial number was 34 254 483. So Wesley Johnston's search of his files for the G-4483 combination very quickly revealed that it was Kyle Galyean's helmet. Once Jean Laurent learned that Kyle Galyean was buried at Lorraine, he adopted his grave to become the caretaker to honor the memory and sacrifice of Kyle Galyean.

The helmet has a hole in the back. The exact cause of Kyle Galyean's death was never determined. However, the condition of his remains was recorded when he was exhumed for transfer to his final burial and they bear testimony to a sudden violent death: "Crushed skull. All major bones fractured and/or missing, except left humerus, right radius and left radius, left ulna and right ulna, and left clavicle."

His name is mentioned on a monument in Vittonville.