Colonel John W. Mitchell

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1001422/john-william-mitchell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Mitchell_(United_States_Air_Force)

John William Mitchell (June 14, 1915 – November 15, 1995) was an officer of the United States Air Force, a flying ace and the leader of Operation Vengeance, the mission to shoot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He served in World War II and the Korean War.

Early life

Mitchell was born in Enid, Mississippi to Noah Boothe Mitchell (1881–1967) and Lillian Dickinson Mitchell (1880–1921) on June 14, 1914. Mitchell was a valedictorian of his high school class. He graduated at Columbia University with a degree in Economics on 1934 and continued at the University of Chicago, where he obtained his diploma on 1939.

Mitchell married Anne Lee Miller, during the weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Military career

Mitchell enlisted in the United States Army on April 9, 1934, and after completing basic training he served with the Coast Artillery Corps at Fort Ruger, Hawaii from July 1934 to September 8, 1938. Mitchell was selected to attend the Aviation Cadet Program, and entered training on November 10, 1939, receiving his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps and his pilot wings on July 26, 1940.

World War II

Mitchell flew as a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk pilot with the 55th Fighter Squadron of the 20th Fighter Group from August 1940 to January 1942. He was with the 70th Pursuit Squadron, stranded near Charlotte, North Carolina during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, due to a malfunctioning P-40. On his arrival at the 70th Pursuit Squadron’s base at Hamilton Field, he learned that most of the experienced men of the squadron had been sent to Java, Indonesia, to try to stem the Japanese onslaught. But, most of them were killed or captured by the Japanese.

After re-organizing, and training new recruits as well as possible, Mitchell and the members of the 70th Fighter Squadron embarked for Fiji on Jan. 20, 1942. They were given the new aircraft, the Bell P-39 Airacobra. Landing at the harbor of Suva, the men of the 70th began to struggle with their P-39s in the tropical downpours and mud of Fiji. With the aid of the Bell Aircraft representatives, they got the P-39s into the air and began training in them. They trained intensively with the P-39s for six months, their only diversions being volleyball and high-stakes poker.

They thought they were "hot pilots" and "were ready to take on all comers". Then some Navy pilots from the carrier Saratoga visited and gave them some insight into real combat, showing them the greater maneuverability of the Grumman F4F Wildcat and the technique of the Thach Weave. They continued training on Fiji through autumn of 1942, entertaining several dignitaries in these months, notably World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, Army Air Forces chief General Henry "Hap" Arnold, and a young Texas Congressman and future U.S. President, Lyndon B. Johnson. On October 5, Mitchell and eight of his pilots were detached from the 70th for duty on Guadalcanal with the 339th Fighter Squadron of 347th Fighter Group. They arrived just in time for the darkest days at Guadalcanal.

At one point the Japanese were only 600 feet from their airstrip. The crew chiefs removed the .30 caliber machine guns from some planes, to use in a last-ditch stand. When landing at Henderson Field, the fliers dodged bushes in the runway, held there by brave crewmen, to mark the location of shell holes. Several pilots were lost in night landings, due to the dim lights, the frequent storms, and the rough conditions of the strip. Mitchell had shot down three Japanese planes by early November, and later that month was promoted to Major and Commanding Officer of the 339th Fighter Squadron.

The arrival of the first P-38 Lightnings overshadowed his promotion. The fast twin-engined fighters had devastating firepower – four .50 caliber machine guns and a 20 mm cannon mounted in the nose. Because the guns all fired straight ahead, rather than in the common converging patterns of wing-mounted guns, they were effective at all ranges.

In December 1942, Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., Rex Barber, Doug Canning, and other pilots of the 70th Fighter Squadron came to Guadalcanal, alternating duty with the 339th Fighter Squadron, which was commanded by Mitchell. Once Canning spotted a Japanese freighter in The Slot and arranged a betting pool on which pilot could get the best hit on the ship. He put a 500 lb. bomb through her deck, sank her, and won the pool. In the early part of 1943, the pace of war slackened a little, although Barber and some other 70th Fighter Squadron pilots sank a destroyer in March.

The P-38s had some drawbacks: feeble heaters, high fuel consumption, and high maintenance. But the pilots loved the new planes, which inflicted even higher losses on the Japanese.

Operation Vengeance

See also: Operation Vengeance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Vengeance

Back in Hawaii, on April 14, the American code-breakers intercepted the message detailing Yamamoto's itinerary. The decoded and translated message made its way to Washington DC, back to Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii, then to Admiral Halsey on New Caledonia, and to Admiral Mitscher on Guadalcanal. All levels approved the shoot-down mission, and Mitscher assigned it to Mitchell, who plotted a roundabout approach, far from other islands, to minimize the chance that observers would warn the enemy of the attack.

Overnight at Henderson Field, ground crews fitted large new fuel tanks under the wings of the P-38s. By dawn 18 aircraft were ready. Mitchell's last instructions before the 0700 take-off were to maintain radio silence.

The flight proceeded northwest at wavetop level to avoid Japanese spotters, sweeping widely away from Japanese-occupied New Georgia. Mitchell tried to hold the planes at thirty feet; with only the ocean below, depth perception was almost non-existent. By 0800, the American raiders were 285 miles from the planned interception. At that minute, Admiral Yamamoto's G4M Betty bomber took off from Rabaul, on time for his scheduled 1000 arrival on Bougainville. His entourage included one other Betty bomber and six A6M Zeros. Yamamoto's chief of staff, Admiral Matome Ugaki, flew in the second bomber.

At 0820 the Lightnings changed their heading for the first time, swinging slightly to the north. Half an hour later, when abreast of Vella Lavella, they made their second planned course change, again shifting a little more to the north.

At 0900, Mitchell made their last change, heading northeast, directly toward the coast of Bougainville, only 40 miles away. He also began the slow climb for altitude at this point. At 0934 Doug Canning called out "Bogeys, eleven o'clock high." The P-38 pilots jettisoned their drop tanks and attacked. Holmes and Hine had trouble with their tanks; only Barber and Lanphier of the killer group went after the Japanese bombers. All the other P-38s followed their instructions to fly cover against the Zero fighters.

Both Lanphier and Barber claimed one bomber shot down over the jungles of Bougainville. Frank Holmes claimed another shot down over the water a few minutes later. From Japanese records and survivors, among them Admiral Ugaki, the following facts are certain. Only two G4M Betty bombers were involved; Yamamoto's was shot down over Bougainville with no survivors; the second went into the ocean and Admiral Ugaki lived to tell about it. The day following the attack, a Japanese search party located the wreckage, including Yamamoto's body, which they ceremonially cremated.

Post mission

After the mission, Mitchell served a tour with Headquarters Army Air Forces from June to December 1943. His total score in Guadalcanal was eight enemy planes, making him a flying ace. Then he was assigned to the 412th Fighter Group, where he served from December 1943 to April 1945. Mitchell flew Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes as an observer in England in April and May 1945.

He next served the 15th Fighter Group based in Iwo Jima from May to June 1945. He flew North American P-51 Mustangs, escorting Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers over Japan and shooting down three more enemy aircraft. He subsequently served as Deputy Commander and then Commander of the 21st Fighter Group, where he served from July to October 1945.

Mitchell was credited with destroying a total of 11 enemy aircraft in aerial combat during World War II.

Post war

After United States Army Air Forces became United States Air Force, Mitchell was assigned as Director of Training and Operations at Keesler Field, from February 1946 to August 1947. He attended Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base from August 1947 to June 1948, and then served as base commander at Godman Air Force Base, from June 1948 to July 1949. Mitchell served with the 63d Fighter Wing at Brooks Air Force Base, from July 1949 to November 1950, and then served as Commander of the 57th Fighter Interceptor Group at Eielson Air Force Base, from November 1950 to June 1952.

Korean War

Mitchell flew again in the Korean War, taking over the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing for Gabby Gabreski in June 1952.

Based at Suwon Air Base in South Korea, he shot down four MiG-15s, while flying the North American F-86 Sabre. Among his other challenges as Commanding Officer of 51st FIW was controlling the "flight suit" mentality of his fliers, who bent all the rules in their desire to "kill MiGs." Things came to a head when Lt Col. Edwin L. Heller of the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was shot down on the Chinese side of the Yalu River. As Robert F. Dorr describes it in his book Korean War Aces:

"Mitchell was madder than any colonel the pilot had ever seen"

Mitchell and Lt Gen. Glenn O. Barcus, the commanding general of Fifth Air Force, made a lot of personnel changes and even attempted to strip one pilot, Capt. Dolphin Overton, of his ace status.

Post war After serving in Korea, Mitchell served with the 28th Air Division at Hickam Air Force Base from June 1953 to July 1956. Mitchell's final assignment was as Commander of the Detroit Air Defense Sector at Custer Air Force Station from July 1957 until his retirement from the Air Force on July 31, 1958.

Mitchell flew 240 combat missions in World War II and Korean War and was credited with 15 aerial victories together in the two wars.

Later life

Mitchell died on November 15, 1995 in San Anselmo, California. His wife Anne died on March 14, 2008. Both of them are buried and share a same headstone at Golden Gate National Cemetery.

Aerial victory credits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Mitchell_(United_States_Air_F...

Awards and decorations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Mitchell_(United_States_Air_F...