William B. Mitchell ~ Obituary

William "Billy" Mitchell was in the Grove Class of 1961.

Billy Mitchell was a West Point Graduate.

Billy started out in the Army, which is where he did his Viet Nam service and won the Silver Star and Purple Heart. He then transferred to the Air Force, became a pilot flying F-4s in Europe. He then retired and worked part-time at a motorcycle repair shop just to keep busy. He died of cancer in 1997 , far too early. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Retired Col. Billy Mitchell
dies Monday in Virginia

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. William Brown "Billy" Mitchell died of cancer Monday, Oct. 13,1997, at his Centreville.Va., residence.

Born in Paris, Tennessee, Sept. 21,1943, Mitchell was a son of Maxine Mitchell of Paris and the late Vybrat "Brat" Mitchell.
After graduating from Grove High School in 1961, he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y where he graduated in 1965. Mitchell served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Army Green Berets. While in Vietnam, he earned the Silver Star, two Bronze stars and three Purple Hearts. He received the Silver Star and the Bronze Star
awards for separate heroic actions within a one-week period. His second of three Purple Hearts was awarded for being wounded in the encounters which earned him a Bronze Star award with a "V" device for valor. An account of his Silver Star was published in the Aug. 1. 1967, Post' Intelligencer. The Account stated "On this date, Lt. Mitchell was serving as platoon leader on a search and destroy mission in a Viet Cong infested area north of Bien Hoa. While moving through a dense jungle, his platoon was suddenly subjected to intense small arms fire from an estimated two platoons of Viet Cong."With three men severely wounded in the combat, The story stated Mitchell exposed himself to hostile fire as he ran through the Viet Cong kill zone to the wounded soldiers. He administered first aid and without regards to enemy rounds moved the men to a position of safety.

After four years of service in the Army, Mitchell transferred to the U.S. Air Force, where he completed pilot training in 1970.

During his Air Force service, he flew several different fighter aircraft including the F-4 Phantom and F-16 Falcon jets. He also served as wing commander at bases in Hahn Air Base in Germany, Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas and Ineirlik in Turkey.

He retired as a colonel in 1993 after almost 28 years of service.