David Glen Lovitt

David Glen Lovitt was born in Clarinda, IA. While an infant he was baptized in the Bedford Methodist Church in Taylor County. He attended grade school at Gravity and graduated from Bedford Community High School with the class of 1966. As a young man he farmed with his father and briefly attended Iowa State University in Ames. He was drafted by the Army in January 1968. Lovitt completed his basic training at Fort Bliss, TX and received advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, LA. SP4 Lovitt was deployed to South Vietnam in June 1968 and was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry in the 25th Infantry Division as a driver of a command armored personnel carrier. The young Iowan died on March 6, 1969 from wounds received during a firefight in the Tay Ninh Province. He posthumously was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and Merit. According to the Bronze Star citation, “Lovitt, driver of the command track, turned his vehicle into the devastating hostile fire and with complete disregard for his own safety, assaulted the hostile fortification. During the advance Specialist Lovitt’s track took a direct hit from an RPG but he maintained control of the vehicle as he drove it over the Communist position, killing its occupants.” He was 21 years old at the time of his death. His body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Washington Cemetery in Gravity, IA.