Diplomacy key to WWII P-38 pilot recovery in Austria

Times Record

Bob Mitchell of Fort Smith reviews the military records of his brother, Lt. Henry Donald Mitchell, who went missing in action during a flight sweep on July 8, 1944 near Waldegg, Austria. After more than 20 years of efforts to locate his brother's remains, new hope exists with recent approval by the crash site land owner to have a U.S. forensic team peform an excavation in the coming months.

The excavation of a World War II crash site in Austria is being arranged in the coming months after more than a decade of attempts to locate the remains of a P-38 pilot from northwest Arkansas.

Lt. Henry Donald Mitchell of Harmon was 23 when his plane went down near Waldegg, Austria, on July 8, 1944 during a flight sweep to Vienna with the 48th Fighter Squadron. His brother Bob Mitchell of Fort Smith, 10 years younger, has never given up on the mission to bring his brother home.

“If they find him ... oh gosh that’d be really something,” Bob Mitchell said. “I’ve waited this long. I can wait a little longer.”

Bob’s efforts to find his brother’s remains began in earnest as early as 1997 when he wrote his 3rd District Congressman, now-Gov. Asa Hutchinson, for help in obtaining his brother’s military records. In September 2017 the Times Record ran an article detailing how efforts to excavate the crash site were stalled by the landowner at the time.

Since then, U.S. Sen. John Boozman and staff members have worked with the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and diplomats between the United States and Austria to develop relationships that have proven successful in recent months with continued conversations on the matter between the Ambassador for the United States to Austria, Trevor Traina; Austrian Ambassador to the United States, Martin Weiss; and the private landowner.

About six weeks ago, a meeting was set up between Traina and the land owner to walk the site. Another piece of the Lockheed Martin P-38 Lightening was found during the visit. The new landowner, son of the former landowner, is going to allow a forensics team with the POW/MIA Accounting Agency to perform the minor excavation needed to search for any remains of Lt. Mitchell.

“Bob’s faithfulness has paid off,” Boozman said. “He’s never given up.”

Boozman said he was thankful for the continued cooperation between the new landowner, and the Austrian government to allow for the forensic excavation.

Martin Weiss, Austrian ambassador to the United States, has worked with U.S. Sen. John Boozman's office and the U.S. Department of POW/MIA Accounting Agency to secure a site excavation near Waldegg, Austria, in the coming months in hopes of recovering remains of WWII P-38 pilot Lt. Henry Donald Mitchell of Harmon, whose 90-year-old brother Bob Mitchell of Fort Smith has worked to locate since he went missing in 1944.