James Mitchell Cornett
Private First Class James Mitchell Cornett was born on May 10, 1943, and was originally from Elizabethton, Tennessee. He served his country in the viet War in the United States Army, as an infantryman in A Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. His tour began on September 25, 1965. Nearly six months later, on March 24, 1966, PFC Cornett was killed under hostile conditions in Binh Duong province, South Vietnam; he was 22 years old at the time of his death. PFC Cornett is memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Panel 6E, Line 46.
He is buried in Happy Valley Memorial Park, Elizabethton, TN.
The Elizabethton Star, 27 March 1966
Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Cornett, 212 East K. Street, Elizabethton, were notified by the Defense Department yesterday that their son, Private First Class James M. Cornett, was killed in action in Viet Nam on March 24. Private Cornett, a member of the 137th Airborne Division, was killed in combat when hit by hostile mortar fire, according to the Defense Department notification telegram The 22-year-od soldier was married to the former Cynthia Nave of Shenadoah Apartments on G. Street. The couple has one son, James Jr., who is 13 months old. Before enlisting in the Army in April, 1965, Cornett attended Elizabethton High School and the first Freewill Baptist Church. He served three years in the National Guard. He went overseas with the 26th Infantry Division in September, 1965, but transferred to the airborne unit after arriving in Viet Nam. Survivors in addition to the parents, wife and son, include three sisters, Betty Jane and Elizabeth Ann Cornett of the home; and Mrs. Wayne Deloach of Route 4, Elizabethton; and a brother, Danny Lynn Cornett of the home.
- Rank: Private First Class
- Date of birth: 10 May 1943
- Date of death: 24 March 1966
- County: Carter
- Hometown: Elizabethton
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
- Conflict: Vietnam
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Happy Valley Memorial Park, Elizabethton, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXII, Middle Panel
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