Lovett, John Mercer
Army Private 1st class

John Mercer Lovett from New Jersey, Mercer county.

Service era: Korea
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Monday, November 27, 1950
Death details: On November 27, 1950, B Company of the U.S. Army’s 35th Infantry Regiment, an element of Task Force Dolvin/Wilson, was holding a hastily erected defensive position near the village of Tong-dong, North Korea, when Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) attacked the company’s perimeter from two sides. After heavy fighting, the Chinese successfully infiltrated the American positions, forcing a withdrawal under heavy mortar and artillery fire. The U.S. troops pulled back to another position a mile farther south. Corporal John Mercer Lovett entered the U.S. Army from New Jersey and served with B Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On November 27, CPL Lovett was captured during this withdrawal from Tong-dong. As a prisoner of war (POW), he was eventually marched to POW Camp 5 at Pyoktong, on the Yalu River, where he died on or before July 31, 1951. He was buried near the camp. His remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Lovett is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency