The Texas Veterans Land Board has memorialized two Medal of Honor recipients at the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Lubbock, the first time recipients of the nation’s highest military decoration have been honored at any VLB cemetery, Land Commissioner and VLB Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham announced in a Sept. 16 news release.
The services, held Friday, Sept. 11, honored Air Force Lt. Col. George Davis and Marine Corps 1st Lt. Frank Nicias Mitchell, both of whom joined the armed forces from Texas and were killed in the Korean War, according to the Texas General Land Office. Neither man’s remains have been recovered.
“The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration of the United States Armed Forces and is given to those who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor,” Buckingham said in the release. “There is no higher act of honor than serving your country, and for those who are wounded or killed in combat, their lives and the lives of their families are forever altered by their selfless sacrifice.”
Davis served with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing. The land office said he departed Kimpo Air Base on Feb. 10, 1952, piloting an F-86 Sabre as flight leader on a combat mission over North Korea. After his flight engaged a group of MiGs northeast of Kunu-ri and he damaged two of them, Davis told his wingman he had been hit. The wingman followed the Sabre as it descended, went out of control and crashed into a hilltop, and reported seeing no ejection or parachute.
Mitchell was a platoon leader in A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was killed Nov. 27 during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, the land office said. After the company commander ordered a withdrawal near Yudam-ni, Mitchell — realizing that the bodies of several Marines would be left behind — fired a Browning Automatic Rifle and threw grenades to give other members of his unit a chance to retrieve them. He was mortally wounded, and the tactical situation prevented the evacuation of his body.
Family members of both men received folded American flags at the services, according to the release. Buckingham said the cemetery will serve as a place of remembrance until the two are returned to their families. “It is an honor for the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery to mark a special place of remembrance for Lt. Col. George Davis and 1st Lt. Frank Mitchell until we can bring them home to their families,” she said. “We are the land of the free because of the brave, and we must never forget that the freedoms we cherish always come at a cost.”