John Lendrum Mitchell III – First Lieutenant, United States Army

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, October 10, 1941

John Lendrum Mitchell, 21-year-old son of the late Brigadier General William Mitchell, today enlisted as a $21 a month Private in the Field Artillery of the Regular Army.  He wanted to be a flyer but his eyes were not up to the standard.  He will go to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, tomorrow.

The recruit’s father, “Billy” Mitchell was Milwaukee’s most famous soldier.  After the World War he became Assistant Chief of the Army Air Corps and fought hard for a modernized air force.  He attacked tradition bound bureaucrats in the War Department so vigorously that he lost his rank, was suspended and finally resigned from the Army.

The development of aviation in the armed forces is often pointed as a complete vindication of General Mitchell.

GENERAL MITCHELL’S SON DIES
Army Lieutenant, 22, Victim of a Blood Infection

WASHINGTON, October 27, 1942 – Lieutenant John Lendrum Mitchell, 22, son of the late Brigadier General William (Billy) Mitchell, prophet of modern aerial warfare, died today at Pine Camp, New York, after a three-weeks illness.  He entered the Army infirmary there suffering from a blood infection.

A native of Washington, he enlisted in 1941 at Milwaukee, where an airfield was being dedicated to the memory of his father, and was graduated from the officer’s training school at Fort Knox, Kentucky, last Summer.  He served in the Tank Corps.

With him when he died was his mother, Mrs. Franklin F. Korrell of Alexandria, Virginia.

He also leaves two sisters, Mrs. Harriet Anderson, wife of Commander Paul R. Anderson of the Navy, and Mrs. Elizabeth Mitchell of Alexandria.

NOTE: His mother was divorced from his father in 1922 and she subsequently married former Congressmand Franklin Frederick Korell and they are both also buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  The Lieutenant’s name appears on their joind headstone.

MITCHELL, JOHN LENDRUM
1ST LT 66TH FLD ARTILLERY 4TH ARMORED DIV AUS

• DATE OF DEATH: 10/27/1942
• BURIED AT: SECTION 4 W/H  SITE 2755-G
• ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard