Sioux City Youth Wins Air Medal
First Lieut. Edward R. Mitchell, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mitchell, 201 Webster building, Fifth and Jackson Streets, was one of eight Iowa members of the United States Army Eighth Air Force in England awarded decorations for valor and exceptional performance against the enemy, the war department announced Thursday night.
The young Sioux City officer received the Air Medal. In a letter written from England Easter Sunday and received Saturday, Lieut. Mitchell said that more recently he had been assigned to ferrying and test hops, but wished to “get back into combat and get the war over with.” He expressed enthusiasm for having been recipient of “handmade shoes and a tailor-made blouse.”
Mrs. Milton Miller, a sister residing at the same address here, said she had no idea what the nature of the “exceptional performance against the enemy” may have consisted of.
Lieut. Mitchell was accepted as an aviation cadet by the air force January 3 and took pilot training on the Pacific Coast. He was graduated from Trinity High School and attended Trinity College. He also took an aeronautical course at Morningside College.
Also receiving the air medal were Technical Sergeant Lawrence J. Brandenburg, LeMars; Staff Sergeant Robert G. Lentz, Fort Dodge and Staff Sergeant Kenneth R. Morse, Eagle Grove.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, May 14, 1943
