December 2021 Veteran of the Month
Brian D. Mitchell was born in June of 1947 in Vancouver, B.C. His
father was a printer for a lithography company; his mother was an Executive Secretary. During World War II both Brian’s parents served in the Royal Air Force in England. Brian’s mother worked as a Communications Sargent on Winston Churchill’s staff. In 1944 Brian’s parents met on a train traveling to Scotland when his father, a RAF Flying Officer, was visiting his parents in Scotland. They were married two days after VE Day. Later, they moved to the Vancouver area shortly before Brian’s birth.
Both Brian’s grandfathers served in the British Forces during WWI, so serving seems to run on both sides of his family.
In September of 1953, the Mitchells moved to Detroit, MI, and in 1965 Brian graduated from Milford High School. He then enlisted in the Army, August 1966. His decision to enlist was based primarily on two reasons. First, it was an easier path towards U.S. citizenship. Second, he wanted to be able to choose his MOS, and he initially chose Personnel Specialist. However, he ended up going to infantry training at Ft. Ord, California. While waiting for an assignment he became an assistant drill instructor. From there he was transferred to the US Army Garrison at Ft. Irwin, California located in the Mojavi desert. He was initially assigned as the duty roster clerk. Later, he was responsible for preparing morning reports, unit orders, and other personnel matters. Within 15 months he was promoted to E-5.
In January 1968 the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans. Shortly after there was a failed assassination attempt on South Korean President Park Chung-hee. Because of these incidents the US Department of Defense diverted approximately 4,000 soldiers, including Brian, from Vietnam assignments to Korea as part of what came to be called “The Second Korean War”, which was the period 1967 through 1969. Upon arrival, Brian was assigned to the Tactical Operation Center of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry. Because of Brian’s past infantry training his Battalion Commander picked Brian to be his driver while on the DMZ. Many evenings he drove the commander to areas where hostile activity had occurred. Brian described this assignment as the Battalion Commander’s driver as “extremely interesting duty and a privilege.” After the time on the DMZ, Brian’s battalion returned to its base camp at Camp Hovey. There Brian was assigned to Headquarters Company as a personnel specialist. Brian was offered a promotion to E-6 if he would extend his tour in Korea but declined and was honorably discharged from active duty in April of 1969.
Returning to the Detroit area, Brian enrolled in Community College for a year, then transferred to Control Data Institute studying Computer Science for two years. In the private sector, Brian worked nearly five decades for many Fortune 1000 technology firms as computer technology rose to prominence. Brian started out in 1974 as a field service engineer supporting customers in a large eastern territory. In 1979 he was promoted to a service management position. Then in 1985 Brian chose to begin a new career as a computer systems salesman. After several successful years in sales, Brian accepted a promotion to District Sales Manager. In 1999 Brian was again promoted as a Sales and Operation Manager in Canada, headquartered in suburban Toronto. Brian and his wife, Taryn, lived in Canada for seven years. Wanting to get back to the US, Brian accepted a position in the Detroit area. In Brian’s final sales position he relocated to Punta Gorda, Florida in 2008. They both retired in 2018, then moved to Tellico Village.
Brian has 5 children, the oldest served in the US Army with two years in Germany. He also has 11 grandchildren, one currently serving in Germany with the USAF Nuclear program.
Brian currently serves as Adjutant for the Tellico Village VFW.
In appreciation for his service to our country, AWE has provided a $25 gift certificate to Brian.
Comments
December 2021 Veteran of the Month — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>