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| Lt. Richard Mitchell was the bombardier of the B-17 Tinker Toy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42675626/richard-mckay-mitchell |
Richard McKay Mitchell never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Announcement: In just a few days we will be starting a project that will result in the stories of all 400,000 plus of the World War 2 fallen at one online location. There will be an accompanying smart phone app to allow users visiting any war memorial to scan the fallen serviceman's name and be linked to his story. Watch this blog or join the WW2 Fallen 100 Facebook page to learn of upcoming details.
He was born on January 28, 1920 in Shattuck, Oklahoma. His parents Witten and Margaret were born in Missouri and Oklahoma, respectively. His father worked as a printing office linotypist and later as a newspaper machinist. Richard had one younger brother. By 1940 Richard's parents had divorced.
He enlisted in the Army Air Forces on November 30, 1941. He eventually became a second lieutenant and bombardier in the 535th Bombardment Squadron, 381st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses.
Lt. Mitchell's final mission was on December 20, 1943. He was the bombardier on B-17 42-5846 nicknamed Tinker Toy. This particular bomber has been mentioned in a previous WW2 Fallen 100 profile. Tinker Toy pilot William Minerich was killed flying this plane on October 8, 1943. A 20mm cannon shell tore off the nose of the plane, instantly killing Minerich. The crew flew it back and it was patched up to fly again.
The December 20 mission was to bomb Bremen, Germany. A Bf 109 collided head-on into Tinker Toy, leaving only three survivors. In his bombardier position at the very front of the plane, Lt. Mitchell was one of those who was killed.
His grave is at Old Mission Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas.
Last year on this date I profiled Battle the Bulge fallen and Silver Star hero William Atkinson. You can read about William here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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