The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Albert Cook Mitchell.

The Wall › Panel 52E › New York › Albert Cook Mitchell

ALBERT COOK MITCHELL

Colonel · U.S. Air Force

December 15, 1928 – April 25, 1968

Service record

Albert Cook Mitchell, of New York, New York, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 25, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 52E, Line 8 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 52E · Line 8

Position of Panel 52E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.

Remember

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Service

Branch
U.S. Air Force
Rank
Colonel (COL)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Pilot (1115F)
Unit (as recorded)
497 TFS
Born
December 15, 1928
Home of record
New York, New York (Kings County)

Casualty

Date of loss
April 25, 1968
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Declared Dead
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
First reported
Missing in action
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

53 names on the Wall carry the date April 25, 1968. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “497 TFS”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.

He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.

His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.

Also on Panel 52E, Line 8

Same unit, same day

From New York

All 1370 names from New York →

Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.