Collier, Garland Woodrow, born 03-11-1918 in Novice, Coleman County, Texas, 
to parents Abner Belcher Collier and Abbie Morris Ralph Collier. Garland was the youngest child in his family among seven surviving siblings. Ina Collier German (1900–1991), 
Nannie Lee Collier Ferguson (1903–1978), 
Vi Era Collier Lindsey (1906–1983), 
Ralph Cecil Collier (1910–1983), 
Master Sergeant Grady Alvin Collier, 
who survived the war (1913–1975) and Burrel Dee Collier (1915–1991) 
Burrel in WW@ was stationed in the Aleutian Islands during his service.
Garland grew up in depression-era Texas yet was part of a close-knit family which valued strong work ethic, service to others and integrity. Garland attended Glen Cove and White Chapel Schools and later transferred to Coleman ISD, Bluecats 
where he excelled in football, basketball, and track at Coleman High School. While he was very young, Garland lost his father in 1927 and his mother in 1935. Despite that, Garland persisted in finishing his schooling, graduating from high school in 1938.
After graduating from high school, he held various odd jobs in the Coleman area, in addition to working on a dairy farm operated by his brother-in-law, Jimmy Watson. Garland subsequently followed his older brother Dee, relocating to Bisbee, Arizona to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program as a “mucker” in the local copper mines.
He resided for two years in the Lowell Township, near Bisbee, Arizona. He again followed his older brother’s Grady example when he enlisted in the U. S. Army 
on 01-09-1942, in Phoenix, Arizona, branding himself forever in military records as hailing from Arizona. He quickly became known as “Tex” in his service in 101st Airborne’s 
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment “Easy Compagny ‘. The elite highly trained group of soldiers 
was formed at Camp Toccoa, 
Georgia, in June 1942. Garland was an initial member of this experiment in a new type of military initiative, developing paratroopers for a large-scale massive invasion. As a paratrooper, Garland continued extensive training, earned his Parachute Wings 
and certification, and was assigned to the 506th PIR/3rd BTN/HQ CO/LMG PLTN (light machine gun platoon). 
Garland completed advanced airborne training including extensive parachute operations, night jumps, tactical maneuvers and simulation at Fort. Benning, Georgia, Camp MacKall and Fort. Bragg, North Carolina. In August 1943, the 506th transferred to Camp Shanks in New York, 
preparing for overseas movement to the European theatre of operation. Arriving in England a month later, the regiment was posted in Wiltshire County, with the 506th PIR quartered in the small village of Ramsbury. Here they trained for an additional ten months, all leading up to their participation in the massive Allied operation on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Death and burial ground of Collier, Garland Woodrow.
Leaving Exeter Airdrome and flying across the English Channel, his parachute “stick” was dropped into the Cherbourg Peninsula of Normandy. 
Unfortunately, after all twenty paratroopers jumped safely, their C-47 
was downed in the English Channel on its return, its entire crew perishing. Behind enemy lines in France, Garland sustained wounds twice but was able to return with his unit to England for rest, recovery, and preparation for the colossal Allied jump as part of Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands. 
. On 17-09-1944, Garland made his second official war-time jump, landing north of my hometown Eindhoven 
in Holland. His unit continued along “Hell’s Highway” northward toward Arnhem for several days, liberating small Dutch villages while at the same time encountering heavy German offensives. In the small village of Opheusden, Holland, 
located in a low-lying area between two rivers called “The Island”, Garland’s machine gun section was overrun by German troops. He was killed 05-10-1944 (age 25) in action in a slit trench, his machine-gun section buddies by his side, near the railway station.
Although his family was notified by his commanding officer that he was buried in an American military cemetery, Garland’s remains were never properly identified nor recovered. In spite of countless official efforts by U. S. Army and Dutch officials, the family was notified in 1950 that Garland was one of a handful of Opheusden losses that had been deemed non-recoverable. Garland’s name was shortly thereafter memorialized at the Netherlands American Cemetery, in Margraten, on the Tablets of the Missing 
along with the names of over 1700 other fallen soldiers killed in action in Holland and whose remains were never found.
Recently, with modern technology aiding the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), which was reorganized as the Department of Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), more and more previously unidentified remains have been found, recovered, and identified. Family reference DNA samples were used in verifying Garland’s possible identification, should his remains ever be recovered. Miraculously, due to the comprehensive efforts of the DPAA, the family was notified on 17-06-2022, that Garland’s remains had, in fact, been recovered, transported to a lab facility in the United States and positively identified through DNA matching, Garland was reburied in November 2022 to the White Chapel Cemetery, Coleman County, Texas, United States. Section Map #113 – Map Coordinates: B3
Garland was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and meritorious service, the fourth highest-ranking award a service member can receive for bravery and sacrifice in service of their country during an armed conflict. He also earned a Purple Heart for wounds incurred in France, as well as a posthumously awarded Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 
administration.
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