MITCHELL COLLECTION

 

   Mitchell, like all of the old Shipmates spoke fondly of his days on the George E. Davis, DE357…
 

 

These photos of Clifton Mitchell were donated by the Mitchell family.

In the top photo we find Mitchell in the center. He must have had a thing for western wear. These guys actually look like they just stepped off a Gene Autry cowboy picture. They don’t make them like this any more!

To his right is Norm Tallion. (Norm’s son made an EXCELLENT video tribute to the DE357, by the way. See it on this website!) We don’t know about the gentleman to the left. Do you? Let us know! Send mail!

In the top right photo Mitchell is all the way to the left at the top. Standing beside him is our super DE357 benefactor, the always jolly and irascible Stanly Cohen. I’m going to say all of these guys are in the Sonar crew… What do you think?

The bottom left picture is interesting among other things, because it it taken in Shanghai, China. We don’t have any other photos from this time frame of the voyage of the DE357 website. Do you know the other shipmates in this photo?

Mitchell, on the left, is pictured with another crew mate. Is this   Manilla? It was one heck of a ride for our fathers…many of which had never been more than a few miles away from home…much less on the other side of the world…at war.

Photos made possible by the Mitchell Family!


See a GREAT photo of Clifton Mitchell on the DE357 Memorial Page!

 

Clifton Mitchell, a little closer…
Because of the excellent scanning ability of shipmate Dan, son of Clifton, we’re able to take a little closer look at the photo’s above…
Same photos…only tighter…

Mitchell, like all of the old shipmates spoke fondly of his days on the George E. Davis, DE-357.

As a young man, not even out of high school, being a sonarman on a Destroyer Escort was serious business. When they were in “the hunt” for submarines the sonarman’s job could mean the difference between sinking a sub or being struck by a torpedo.

They also had a lot of fun. He recalled all of the antics that happened when they crossed the equator and became “a trusty shellback”. He and some of his shipmates apparently had a little too much fun.

In Oct of 1944 Cip and a few of his shipmates were on liberty and having a real good time. So much so, that the time got away from them. They ended up being AWOL for about 4 1/2 hrs. I never could get the full story out of him. With a big grin on his face he would just say “It’s a story for another day”. Can anyone help fill in the blanks?

Each man who served aboard the DE357 when she crossed the equator for the first time received credit for surviving the initiation. You can see more of the high seas Neptunus Rex hijinks here…

A dapper young Mitchell posing for a wartime photo. Most of the guys were to grow up on the DE357.

What they learned about themselves on the compact Davis went a long way to define them for the rest of their lives.

Many, like Mitchell, though proud of their service, were somewhat reluctant to talk about those days, unless, as son Dan, who provided these photos remarked…”Unless you asked the right questions…”

I suppose for our fathers, remembering the Davis days was a mixture of pride…but perhaps something they’d rather not repeat. They simply did their duty, and that was enough.

See another GREAT photo of
Clifton Mitchell on the
 E357 Memorial Page!

 

Posted in Collections Mitchell