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Lonnie Bryant Hylton Jr.

West Virginia
Veterans Memorial

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Lonnie Bryant Hylton Jr.
1930-1950

"Everyone liked him, and he is still missed."

Roger Kimble, childhood friend

Lonnie Bryant Hylton Jr. was born December 5, 1930, in Bluefield, West Virginia, one of seven children born to Lonnie Sr. and Rosa Hylton.

Lonnie attended Glenwood Public School and graduated from Princeton High School. As a youth Lonnie, who according to boyhood friend Roger Kimble was called L.B., lived in Littlesburg, a small community in Mercer County. He and Roger would trade comic books as most boys did at time. "L.B. loved westerns and he loved cowboys," wrote Roger, who noted that after graduation from high school L.B. went to Nevada and worked on a ranch.

Lonnie returned to West Virginia in 1948 and entered the service on July 13 of that year. According to Roger Kimble, Lonnie planned to save enough money to buy land in Nevada. After basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he went overseas in October and was stationed at Beppu, Japan.

A corporal in Company C, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Division, he was sent to Korea on or about July 5, 1950. Less than two weeks later, on July 16, Lonnie was reported missing in action in the vicinity of Hun-ni, near Taejon in central South Korea. In January of 1954, his family received notification that, as of December 31, 1953, he was presumed dead. In August 1954, news was received that Lonnie's remains had been recovered in 1951, together with those of two other servicemen, southeast of the Kum River, and subsequently identified as Lonnie Hylton.
Citation from Eisenhower
Citation from Eisenhower

Kenneth Hylton at Veterans Memorial
Kenneth Hylton at Veterans Memorial
The remains of Lonnie Bryant Hylton Jr. were returned to the United States and buried in the family cemetery at Indian Valley, Virginia.

Sources:
Kenneth W. Hylton (Brother), photographs
Roger Kimble posting on "Korean War Project Remembrance," http://www.koreanwar.org/html/korean_war_project_remembrance.html (cited 20 May 2010)

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West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.


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