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Army 2nd Lt. Darwin Keith Kyle was an experienced soldier who'd survived World War II and took pride in looking after his fellow soldiers. During a firefight during the Korean War, Kyle gave his life to ensure his platoon mates could survive. For his selflessness, he was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.
Kyle was born June 1, 1918, in the coal mining town of Jenkins, Kentucky, to Charles and Pearl Kyle. He had an older brother, also named Charles.
At some point in Kyle's youth, the family moved to Racine, West Virginia, where he grew up and attended Sherman High School before enlisting in the Army in November 1939.
Kyle served valiantly during World War II, earning a Silver Star for his actions in France and Germany. According to a 2001 article in The Mountain Eagle newspaper out of Whitesburg, Kentucky, Kyle received the award for saving soldiers from six disabled Allied tanks that had been hit by enemy fire.
Kyle was discharged from the service in August 1945 and returned to West Virginia. At some point, he married Betty Totten. The couple went on to have two daughters, Donna and Nancy.
Civilian life didn't seem to suit Kyle, though, so in July 1947, he reenlisted in the Army. The veteran soldier was assigned to the 6th Infantry Division in South Korea, where he served as part of the post-World War II occupation force.
By the summer of 1950, when war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, Kyle was back in the U.S., serving as a master sergeant in Massachusetts assigned to Company K, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. By that autumn, however, Kyle was back in Korea, this time to fight.
In December 1950, when Americans were evacuated from the North Korean port city of Hungnam, Kyle helped move several injured soldiers to safety after an explosion ripped through the area. His leadership and bravery during that incident quickly earned him a battlefield commission to second lieutenant, according to the West Virginia Encyclopedia Online.
On Feb. 16, 1951, the platoon that Kyle was leading was ordered to remove Chinese defenders from snow-packed Hill 185 near Kamil-Ni, South Korea. When they got pinned down by intense fire, Kyle remained out in the open so he could move among his men and encourage them to continue advancing toward the strongly entrenched enemy.
The encouragement worked, and they made some forward progress, but they were quickly pinned down again by enemy machine gun fire that wounded six soldiers. Kyle immediately reacted by charging the machine gun nest and fighting its crew in hand-to-hand combat, taking out the position's three enemy soldiers by himself.
Once the platoon started moving toward the hill again, they were met with intense automatic weapons fire from a well-concealed enemy position on their right flank. This time, Kyle led his men in a bayonet charge against the position.
Kyle fired his carbine and threw grenades as he went. He took out four enemy soldiers before a burst from an enemy submachine gun killed him.
Kyle's leadership and extraordinary heroism during the chaos helped save his fellow soldiers' lives. For his selfless sacrifice, Kyle was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. His wife and daughters accepted it on his behalf from Defense Secretary Robert Lovett during a Pentagon ceremony on Jan. 16, 1952.
Soon after his family received the award, the Army named Camp Kyle in western South Korea in his honor. The camp remained open until 2005.
Kyle is buried in Sunset Memorial Park in South Charleston, West Virginia.
His heroics haven't been forgotten. In 1955, an elementary school in South Charleston was named in Kyle's honor. A bridge in West Virginia was renamed for him in 1996 before it was rebuilt and rededicated again in his name in 2023.
In 2024, a new housing tower at Camp Humphries in South Korea was also named for Kyle.
This article is part of a weekly series called "Medal of Honor Monday," in which we highlight one of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients who have received the U.S. military's highest medal for valor.
