Paytes, John Lee
Army Private 1st class

John Lee Paytes from Ohio, Clermont county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Corporal John Lee Paytes entered the U.S. Army from Ohio and served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while his unit was attempting to withdraw through an enemy roadblock outside Taejon. After his capture, CPL Paytes was taken to Seoul, then eventually to Pyongyang, where in October 1950 he was boarded onto a train headed to Sunch’on. However, he never reached Sunch’on, and died on an unknown date while en route on the train. His burial location was not recorded, and his remains were never recovered or identified. Today, Corporal Paytes is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency