Forgotten Heroes Of A Forgotten War

A 20-year-old corporal from Fort Hancock sacrificed his life on the night of Sept. 6-7, 1952 and became the fourth native Texan to earn the Medal of Honor in the Korean War.

Secretary of State Dean Acheson told a congressional committee on June 20, 1950 that, alarming rumors to the contrary, military conflict in Korea was not in the cards. Five days later, the well-equipped North invaded the unprepared South.

Under the banner of the new United Nations, the U.S. and 15 other nations rushed to the aid of the South Koreans. At the peak of the fighting, 1.1 million UN troops (480,000 Americans, 590,000 South Koreans and 39,000 from the supporting cast) faced a North Korean Army a quarter of a million strong backed by 780,000 Chinese “volunteers.”

Frank N. Mitchell was born at Indian Gap in Hamilton County and educated at Roaring Springs in the Panhandle. At 18 he enlisted in the Marines in 1939 and was discharged a second lieutenant at the end of WWII.

Mitchell attended three different colleges and even played football at the third, Texas Tech. He was a husband and father, when duty called and he rejoined the Corps.

The first lieutenant was on patrol with his rifle platoon on Nov. 26, 1950, when the unit came under fire. Several of his men went down, and Mitchell grabbed an automatic rifle from one of the wounded and turned it on the North Koreans.

Running out of ammunition, the brave officer lobbed grenade after grenade while at the same time rallying the bloodied Marines. Though wounded, Mitchell organized the crippled platoon for the counterattack that the Marines repulsed in hand-to-hand fashion.

As darkness fell, Lt. Mitchell collected the missing and wounded and directed their evacuation. Then, when least expected, shots rang out killing Texas