Mitchell, Thomas Barry
Air Force Major

Thomas Barry Mitchell, age 27, from Colorado, Arapahoe county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, May 22, 1968
Death details: On March 13, 2009, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Major Thomas Barry Mitchell, missing from the Vietnam War. Major Mitchell joined the U.S. Air Force from New Jersey and was a member of the 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron. On May 22, 1968, he was the pilot of a C-130 Hercules with a crew of nine on a nighttime flare mission over northern Salavan Province, Laos. The Hercules crashed during its flight, killing all nine of the crew. Immediate search efforts could not be conducted due to heavy anti-aircraft fire in the area. Between 1989 and 2008, Laotian, Vietnamese, and American search teams conducted joint field investigations in the Quang Tri Province of Vietnam, recovering aircraft wreckage and human remains. In 2009, modern forensic techniques were able to individually identify Maj Mitchell’s remains among those recovered.
Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com