The Freedom Tree
With The Vision of Universal Freedom
For All Mankind
This Tree Is Dedicated To
CAPT. THOMAS MITCHELL
And All
Prisoners of War
and
Missing in Action
1973
============================================
POW Network.org
Mitchell, Thomas Barry
Name: Thomas Barry Mitchell
Rank/Branch: O3/USAF
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 31 March 1941
Home City of Record: Littleton CO
Date of Loss: 22 May 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162000N 1063000E (XC843858)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Refno: 1187
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2010.
Other Personnel in Incident: Jerry L. Chambers; Calvin C. Glover; Thomas E.
Knebel; William H. Mason; William T. McPhail; John Q. Adam; Gary Pate;
Melvin D. Rash (all missing)
REMARKS: CONTACT LOST - NFI
SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed C130 Hercules aircraft was a multi-purpose propeller
driven aircraft, and was used as transport, tanker, gunship, drone
controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather
reconnaissance craft, electronic reconnaissance platform; search, rescue and
recovery craft.
In the hands of the "trash haulers", as the crews of Tactical Air Command
transports styled themselves, the C130 proved the most valuable airlift
instrument in the Southeast Asia conflict, so valuable that Gen. William
Momyer, 7th Air Force commander, refused for a time to let them land at Khe
Sanh where the airstrip was under fire from NVA troops surrounding that
base.
Just following the Marine Corps operation Pegasus/Lam Son 207 in mid-April
1968, to relieve the siege of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland II began in the
Khe Sanh area, more or less as a continuation of this support effort. The
C130 was critical in resupplying this area, and when the C130 couldn't land,
dropped its payload by means of parachute drop.
One of the bases from which the C130 flew was Ubon, located in northeast
Thailand. C130 crews from this base crossed Laos to their objective
location. One such crew was comprised of LtCol. William H. Mason and Capt.
Thomas B. Mitchell, pilots; Capt. William T. McPhail, Maj. Jerry L.
Chambers [SEE NOTE BELOW], SA Gary Pate, SSgt. Calvin C. Glover, AM1 Melvin
D. Rash, and AM1 John Q. Adam, crew members.
On May 22, 1968, this crew departed Ubon on an operational mission in a
C130A carrying one passenger - AM1 Thomas E. Knebel. Radio contact was lost
while the aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos near the city of
Muong Nong, (suggesting that its target area may have been near the DMZ -
Khe Sanh). When the aircraft did not return to friendly control, the crew
was declared Missing In Action from the time of estimated fuel exhaustion.
There was no further word of the aircraft or its crew.
The nine members of the crew are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared
in Laos. Many are known to have been alive on the ground following their
shoot downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions
that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one American held
in Laos has ever been released. Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace
accords ending American involvement in the war in 1973, and no treaty has
ever been signed that would free the Americans held in Laos, and not one of
them has returned home.
William Mason was a 1946 graduate of West Point. Thomas Mitchell was a 1963
graduate of the Air Force Academy.
=========================
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 19:25:05 -0700
From: (Chris Chambers)
There is some information incorrect in this posting. LTC, then Major
Chambers was the passanger. LTC. Jerry L Chambers was a FAC assigned to the
23rd TASS at NAKOM PHANOM. During this flight he was present as an observer.
=========================
From: "The Lowes"
To: POW Network
Subject: Bio, Mitchell, Thomas B.
Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2007 22:35:35 -0700
I am Harold W. Lowe, the Tactics and Training Officer, and mission check pilot for the Blindbat/Lamplighter operation operating out of Ubon RTAFB at the time of the loss of Thomas Mitchell (and crew). Then Captain Mitchell was in fact, flying as Blindbat 01, a night FAC, and not flying in an airlift role.
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Just wanted to let you know, the group remains burial for the crew from this C-130 will occur on 10 Jun 2010 at 0800 at Arlington National Cemetery. There will be a flyover of the remains transfer at 9:00 a.m.
The names of the crew:
Jerry L. Chambers; Calvin C. Glover; Thomas E.Knebel; William H. Mason; William T. McPhail; Thomas B. Mitchell; Gary Pate; Melvin D. Rash (all missing)