Kyle Jerome White (born March 27, 1987) is an American financial analyst and former United States Army soldier. He is the seventh living recipient of the Medal of Honor from the War in Afghanistan.

Early life

White was born on March 27, 1987, and lived in

Bonney Lake, Washington Bonney Lake is a city in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 22,487 at the time of the 2020 census. History Bonney Lake was incorporated as a town on February 28, 1949, after the establishment of a co-op venture to bring electricity ...

. He enlisted in the United States Army on February 15, 2006, attending basic training, advanced individual training, as well the United States Army Airborne School consecutively, at

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

. White's military education includes the Combat Life Saver Course, United States Army Air Assault School, Infantryman Course (One-Station Unit Training), Primary Leadership Development Course and Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course.

Military service

White was assigned to the

2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment The 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (2-503rd IR) is an active duty airborne infantry battalion in the United States Army, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and stationed at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy. The battalion h ...

from 2006 to 2008. In early 2007, as part of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

, he was deployed to Aranas, Afghanistan where he served as a platoon radio telephone operator. White's actions on November 9, 2007, were the basis for his receiving the Medal of Honor. From 2008 to 2010, White was assigned to the 4th Ranger Training Battalion at

. In May 2011 he departed the active-duty United States Army.

Medal of Honor

Prior to the event that lead to the awarding of the Medal of Honor, White noticed that during a Shura "it seemed like every male fighting-age and above was there in attendance." Half an hour later he and his unit were under attack. During the Battle of Aranas on November 9, 2007, White suffered a mild traumatic brain injury from a

Rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

blast and from the subsequent blast of a 120mm mortar round fired by United States forces. Although injured himself, White provided assistance to the soldiers and Marines around him while under heavy fire. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but says he copes with its symptoms by exercising. Through 2014, White's face still had bullet fragments from an AK-47 round that shattered on a rock in front of him. KyleJWhite MoH 1363px

After the battle, paperwork regarding a potential Medal of Honor awarding was delayed in the Pentagon. On May 14, 2014, White received the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony, for administering life saving medical aid to comrades and for radioing situational reports; that battle resulted in five soldiers (1st Lt. Matthew C. Ferrara, Sgt. Jeffery S. Mersman, Spc. Sean K. A. Langevin, Spc. Lester G. Roque, and Pfc. Joseph M. Lancour) and Marine Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks being killed and all eight surviving Americans being wounded. White became the seventh living recipient of the Medal of Honor from either the Iraq War or Afghanistan operations. The following day, White was inducted into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes by Deputy Defense Secretary

Robert O. Work Robert Orton Work (born January 17, 1953) is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, Work was the U ...

Citation

Post-military career

In 2013, White received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in finance. He became an

investment analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, o ...

with the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

. In 2013, he joined

Bank of America Merrill Lynch BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading plat ...

as a fixed income bond trader.

Awards and decorations

White has earned the following awards and decorations: White has earned two Overseas Service Bars and one service stripe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Kyle J. 1987 births United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Living people Military personnel from Seattle United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) recipients of the Medal of Honor People from Bonney Lake, Washington