Private First Class Mitchell was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy and taken Prisoner of War in South Korea on 16 July 1950; forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March" and died of those wounds at Pyongyang, North Korea, on 29 July 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Mitchell was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.