Carl Berg Mitchell

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to Carl Berg Mitchell (20290), Major, U.S. Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as an Advisor-Pilot of a B-26B aircraft in the 1st Air Commando Squadron, 34th Tactical Group, Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, SEVENTH Air Force, in action on 14 January 1964. On that date, Major Mitchell voluntarily exposed himself and his aircraft during low level flights over hidden Viet Cong machine gun installations. Despite heavy machine gun fire, which repeatedly struck his aircraft, Major Mitchell aggressively continued his efforts to locate and destroy the machine gun installations until his badly damaged aircraft crashed and burned. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Major Mitchell reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.