LOVEGREN, DAVID EUGENE
Name: David Eugene Lovegren
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 21 March 1949
Home City of Record: Portland OR
Date of Loss: 01 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145646N 1084823E (BS641534)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1394
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2020.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Cpl. David E. Lovegren was a passenger aboard a UH1H helicopter
that crashed on March 1, 1969 in Quang Ngai Province about 5 miles southwest
of Mo Duc. No enemy activity was associated with the crash of the aircraft.
Lovegren was killed.
During the recovery operation, Lovegren's body was being hoisted onboard the
extraction helicopter when the lifting device dropped his remains about
1,000 meters from the extraction point. An effort was made to relocate and
recover Lovegren's body, but hostile forces were in the loss area, and
Lovegren could not be recovered. David E. Lovegren is listed with honor
among the missing because no body has ever been returned to his homeland for
burial.
Search and recovery efforts in Vietnam were the best and most successful
ever seen in wartime. They were so successful, in fact, that the numbers of
those remaining missing in action were dramatically reduced over previous
wars.
The unique thing about Vietnam as compared to other wars, however, is that
not a great many cases are like that of Maj. Morgan. Most of the missing
could be readily accounted for by either the governments of Southeast Asia,
who kept incredibly detailed records of each prisoner and downed aircraft
lost, or by on-site inspection and/or excavation of loss sites.
Approximately 1/2 of the nearly 2500 now listed as missing could be
accounted for with access to information held by our former enemies or
access to loss sites. Included in this number are hundreds of individuals
who were known to have been captives, or were alive when last seen.
The other approximate half of those missing were originally classified as
killed, body not recovered. In light of discrepancies, however, at least
several score of these cases need further examination. For example, one
"KIA/BNR" individual was known to have safely parachuted from his aircraft.
Another group of individuals were horribly mutilated by the enemy, and their
bodies (and equipment) disappeared before they could be extracted.
The most troubling aspect of the missing in Vietnam remains the "several
million" documents and "over 250,000" reports received by the U.S.
Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many U.S.
authorities are convinced that hundreds of Americans remain alive today,
held against their will. While it is not possible that David Lovegren is
among them, one must wonder what he would think of his country abandoning
its best men to enemy hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYzoEAG
Private First Class David Eugene Lovegren, who entered the U.S. Army from Oregon, served with Company D, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. On March 1, 1969, he was killed in a helicopter crash. During the recovery operation, PFC Lovegren's body dropped from the hoist while it was being lifted to the helicopter, falling about a kilometer from the extraction point. An attempt was made to relocate and recover the body, but hostile forces in the area stopped the effort. After the incident, the Army promoted PFC Lovegren to the rank of Corporal (CPL). Today, Corporal Lovegren is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.
If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.
Service member profile discrepancy? Please help us ensure the accuracy of each profile by submitting documentation about a service member profile.