World War II Honoree

Kent Payne Graybeal

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Marion, Virginia

Honored By

American Legion

ENTERED THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE WHERE HE FINISHED IN THE FIRST POST-PEARL HARBOR CLASS ON HIS 20TH BIRTHDAY, MAY 15, 1942. HE IMMEDIATELY JOINED THE ARMY’S 102ND INFANTRY DIVISION AS A SECOND LIEUTENANT. HE WENT ON TO LEAD BATTERY A’S 125 MEN IN THE DIVISION’S 381ST FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION IN FRANCE AND GERMANY AND WAS ON THE BANKS OF THE ELBE WHEN RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN FORCES MET THERE SHORTLY BEFORE THE END OF THE WAR. HE RECEIVED A BRONZE STAR FOR SERVICE IN THE EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN AND WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY AS A MAJOR IN 1946.