Private First Class Willard W. Mitchell

Creator

Preview

Identifier

20038284

Description

Private First Class Willard W. Mitchell is home from 26 months in the South Pacific with 93 points to his credit. Pfc. Mitchell is visiting his sister, Mrs. A. B. Dulock, 1217 Churchill Road. He will report back to Huff General Hospital, Santa Barbara, California, after 30 days here and in Gainsville, Texas where he will visit his father, Claude Mitchell. His mother died last December while he was overseas. Mitchell has been stationed at the hospital since April 16, being treated for shrapnel wounds received on Luzon, for which he received a cluster to his Purple Heart. "That experience on Luzon was my narrowest escape," the soldier recalls. "There were seven of us fighting it out in the rain against 28 Japanese who had counter-attacked. At the last, it was a hand-to-hand grenade fight, and all seven of us were wounded. But when we got through, all of the Japanese were finished off." For this action, Mitchell wears the Bronze Star Ribbon. His other decorations include the Combat Infantryman's Badge, four battle stars for campaigns in New Georgia, New Guinea, Guadalcanal, and Luzon, and the Purple Heart with cluster. His first Purple Heart was awarded after he stopped a sniper's bullet in the right leg on New Georgia. Mitchell, a member of the 43rd Infantry Division, entered the service in October 1942 and went overseas in March 1943. He graduated from Gainesville High School and attended North Texas State Teachers College. Also at the Dulock home to visit their brother are Mrs. Vaughn R. Stewart and her daughter, Betty Stewart, of Tucson, Arizona, and Mrs. E. Giles of Pasadena, Texas. In Gainesville, Mitchell will see another sister, Mrs. Geraldine Neely, and her son, Ronald Dean Neely. A brother, Sergeant Marvin Mitchell, was killed on Leyte last December. Pfc. Willard W. Mitchell is standing against a door wearing his military uniform with a big smile on his face. He's looking to his right.

Archival Date

1945-07-25

Collection Name

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

Collection Number

AR406-6-354

Original Format

Negatives, Black & White

File Format

JPG

Rights

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License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Subjects

Mitchell, Willard W. (Pfc.); Military decorations; Dulock, A. B. (Mrs.); Mitchell, Claude; Military uniforms; Stewart, Vaughn R. (Mrs.); Giles, E. (Mrs.); Mitchell, Marvin (Sgt.); Purple Heart