Whitt Moreland was born on March 7, 1930, in Waco, Texas. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on September 28, 1948, and completed basic training at MCRD San Diego, California, in January 1949. PFC Moreland next attended Infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California, from January to April 1949, followed by service with Headquarters Battalion, Marine Barracks, at Camp Pendleton from April 1949 until he left active duty and went into the Marine Corps Reserve on September 28, 1949. He was recalled to active duty in the Marine Corps on December 1, 1950, and then received replacement training at Camp Pendleton from December 1950 to January 1951. PFC Moreland deployed for Korea in February 1951, and arrived in March 1951, where he was assigned to Headquarters & Service Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division from March 1951 until he was Killed in Action on May 29, 1951. Whitt Moreland was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism on August 4, 1952, and he was buried at the Whittington Cemetery in Mount Ida, Arkansas.

His Medal of Honor Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence scout attached to Company C, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Voluntarily accompanying a rifle platoon in a daring assault against a strongly defended enemy hill position, Pfc. Moreland delivered accurate rifle fire on the hostile emplacement and thereby aided materially in seizing the objective. After the position had been secured, he unhesitatingly led a party forward to neutralize an enemy bunker which he had observed some 400 meters beyond, and moving boldly through a fire-swept area, almost reached the hostile emplacement when the enemy launched a volley of hand grenades on his group. Quick to act despite the personal danger involved, he kicked several of the grenades off the ridgeline where they exploded harmlessly and, while attempting to kick away another, slipped and fell near the deadly missile. Aware that the sputtering grenade would explode before he could regain his feet and dispose of it, he shouted a warning to his comrades, covered the missile with his body and absorbed the full blast of the explosion, but in saving his companions from possible injury or death, was mortally wounded. His heroic initiative and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon Pfc. Moreland and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.