Jimmy Allen Marcum He was a graduate of Knoxville Karns High School. He served with A Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Length of Service: 1 Year
His tour began on September 25, 1965
Service Occupation: Light Weapons Infantry
Died at the age of 23 in South Vietnam
Cause of Death: Hostile, Ground Casualty, Multiple Fragmentation Wounds
Jimmy Marcum was born on June 19, 1942 in Concord, Knox County, Tennessee the son of John Canada Marcum and Clara Bell Jackson. He graduated from Karns High School in Knoxville in 1960. Jimmy was drafted into the United States Army in March 1964. He reported to Vietnam in September 1965 and was killed in action on February 4, 1966. His body was returned to the United States and burial was in Marietta Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 10 February 1966
Sp/4 Jimmy Allen Marcum, a Concord young man, died in a hand grenade blast in Vietnam some 25 days before he was scheduled to return to his family and fiancé here. Young Marcum, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Marcum, Varnell Rd., and Miss Doris Lovelace, 18, a Farragut High senior, planned o be married after his return. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R..C. Lovelace, Watt Rd. The two, who had attended Mount Pleasant Baptist Church together in their letters had been counting the days until his return. Doris received a letter from Jimmy yesterday and his mother got one Monday. He was killed Friday. He had hoped to leave South Vietnam about March 1. An Army telegram to his family said Jimmy was on his way to a listening post when he was hit by fragments over the entire body “from a hostile grenade.”A second wire said his body was en route to a U.S. port. “Jimmy and I grew up together in the Concord community,” his sweetheart explained today. “Later, my family and I moved and we didn’t live as near each other, but we continued to attend church together. He wrote me almost every day from Vietnam. The letter I got yesterday was written Tursday, the day before his death. He said again he was counting the days and that he would leave there at least by March 3. He said they had him on security guard. I guess that’s why he had started to a listening post. Jimmy had been on security guard before and had seen a good deal of combat, I gathered.” Doris said they hadn’t set a definite date for their wedding.
Jimmy Marcum had worked in construction carpentry after graduating from Karns High. He entered the Army in March, 1964, and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division. He also leaves three brothers, Jerry, Oak Ridge, and Wayne and Jackie Marcum, Concord; sisters, Mrs. Sue Beeler, Lenoir City, and Cheryl, Julia and Gina Marcum; and grandmother, Mrs. J.I. Marcum, Concord.
- Rank: Specialist 4th Class
- Date of birth: 19 June 1942
- Date of death: 4 February 1966
- County: Knox
- Hometown: Concord
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
- Conflict: Vietnam
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Marietta Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXIII, Top Panel
- Sponsored by: Timothy Christian
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