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Remember...Mitchell Woods Bacon
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Ever since the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain, her citizens have laid down their lives to protect our country and the values established within its Constitution. Of those citizens, Mitchell Woods Bacon, a native West Virginian, gave his life in service to the United States to preserve the rights of every American citizen and to release the people of Europe from the hands of tyranny. General Douglas MacArthur once stated, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." It is our responsibility as historians to ensure that future generations know and understand the sacrifices made for them so many years ago.
| Staff Sergeant Mitchell Woods Bacon was born on April 10, 1910, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was the son of Edwin and Helen Tabb Bacon. Edwin and Helen were married in October of 1908. Mitchell's parents were married for six short years before his mother passed away. His younger brother Edwin, named for his father, was two at the time of her death. S/Sgt. Bacon's father had been married prior to his marriage to Helen. Edwin fathered a child with his former wife, Josephine. Bacon's half-sister, Dorsett, was two years his senior and resided in Georgia. It is likely that Bacon never met her or even knew she existed. From the record search, Bacon and his father had an estranged relationship. During his high school years, Mitchell was sent to live with his uncle, John Mitchell Woods, who was a judge in Charleston. |  Mitchell Woods Bacon at the age of one month. The girl in the picture is not identified. Janney Lupton Collection, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives Room, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA. Used with permission |
Mitchell's education began in the public-school system of West Virginia in Berkeley County. For high school, he originally attended Martinsburg High School, but he transferred to Charleston High School, where he graduated in 1928. Although it is unclear where he did his undergraduate studies, he later attended the University of Virginia, where he studied law. He was part of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity while he was there. Once he completed his studies, Bacon returned to Charleston, West Virginia, and passed the bar exam. According to the 1940 Federal Census, he resided with his uncle John, John's wife Eleanor, and his cousin John Woods Jr. He worked for his uncle at his law firm until 1942, when he enlisted.
 Douglas C-47D and Waco CG in the WWII Gallery of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. U. S. Air Force photo |
With the arrival of arguably one of the most infamous days in history, December 7, 1941, and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor came a flurry of enlistments of men eager to serve their country. This attack set a fire ablaze in the hearts of Americans, and entering the war became inevitable. In the months following the attack, many men enlisted, and among them was Mitchell Woods Bacon. His sense of service led him to complete his Selective Service forms in October of 1940 to be drafted, if necessary; however, instead of waiting to be drafted, Mitchell volunteered to be a part of the United States Army Air Corps. He was sent to Florida for basic training. He returned from basic training as a radio operator on a Douglas C-47. As a radio operator, S/Sgt. Bacon kept communication lines open, relaying information from his aircraft to those around him. |
S/Sgt. Mitchell Woods Bacon's unit was activated in March of 1942 but was not officially named the 314th Troop Carrier Group (TCG) until July 6, 1942. The main focus of the training for his unit was on successfully dropping paratroopers. Eight months after activation, the 314th TCG was assigned to the 50th Troop Carrier Squadron. After a year of training, the group had "progressed to such a degree that the Group could now change from its permanent station to a temporary location for final preparation for overseas duty." In May of 1943, the 314th was sent overseas to North Africa for training on foreign soil. They later went on to participate in the Sicilian Campaign, where the 314th dropped paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division. In February of 1944, the 314th TCG left Sicily to arrive at Saltby Army Air Base in England. From March to June, the 314th went through rigorous training in England in preparation for the invasion of Normandy, known as D-Day. They were dropping paratroopers and working with gliders in training exercises almost daily.
The men of the 314th Troop Carrier Group had worked endlessly to prepare for D-Day, and on June 3, 1944, they were briefed on the events of the coming hours. On June 5, just before midnight, the C-47s and C-53s took off for Normandy, troops and all. Once they got to the coastline, the planes were met with anti-aircraft fire and the clouds blocked vision. On several of the aircraft, paratroopers refused to jump or had an excuse ready to go when they hit the door, so four of the aircrafts returned to Saltby Air Base with soldiers who were meant to be on the ground in Normandy. When all was said and done for Neptune #1, only one aircraft was missing and sixteen were damaged. Of the sixteen damaged, nine were still flyable. As for S/Sgt. Bacon, he was the radio operator on A/C No. 42-93065, which was piloted by Captain Howard W. Sass. As far as the records show, their D-Day mission was successful with little to no difficulties. However, the same cannot be said for the second Neptune mission.
June 7, 1944, proved to be a fateful day for the crew of A/C No. 42-93065, but it was also a day that showed how brave these men really were. S/Sgt. Bacon and the men he served with had already flown into Normandy once and managed to get out without any major losses, but it would have been terrifying to fly in and not know for sure if you were going to fly back out. There had to have been some fear, despite all the training, and yet Bacon and his crew went back the next day to resupply the troops on the ground. This time, however, they would not make it home. Their mission began at 0325 hours and, if successful, was scheduled to end at 1035 hours. As Bacon and the other men on his aircraft flew back into Normandy, they were again met with intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire, as well as small arms fire. Most pilots dropped their loads where they were meant to, but there was still the question of whether or not it was the Allies that received them. By the conclusion of the D-Day+1 mission, one aircraft had been lost, two were missing, and twenty-four were damaged. Of those listed, only thirteen remained flyable. The casualties of this mission included four wounded and fourteen missing in action (MIA) from the 314th Troop Carrier Group. S/Sgt. Mitchell Bacon was one of the fourteen listed as missing in action.
Several documents describe the events of D-Day+1 for Captain Sass and his crew. Only two of the sources agree as to what happened to C-47 No. 42-93065. In the mission report by Major Richard Egan, he states that the "A/C piloted by Capt Howard W. Sass was seen to crash in flames and explode shortly after bundles had been thrown from the burning plane over the drop zone." He also included that "none of the crew were seen to bail out." In an eyewitness account, Staff Sergeant Robert E. Callahan claimed to have seen "the plane piloted by Captain Howard W. Sass set on fire by anti-aircraft fire." He also said that the aircraft caught fire beneath the fuselage just before reaching the drop zone, then continued to tell about how another radio operator who witnessed the crash saw a "sheet of fire" in the crew compartment of the aircraft. S/Sgt. Callahan later mentioned that Captain Sass had been the only survivor of the crash and sent a letter to his squadron commander, Major Joseph McClure, detailing how he could no longer remember the events leading up to the crash or how he managed to escape. However, despite details in the mission report and a witness of the crash, S/Sgt. Mitchell Bacon's death report stated that his casualty agent was an "airplane crash without fire," when there was, in fact, fire during the crash. S/Sgt. Bacon was only thirty-four years old when his plane went down over Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France.
On June 7, 1944, S/Sgt. Mitchell Bacon was declared missing in action along with the co-pilot, the crew chief, and the navigator of the plane they were on. The co-pilot was Second Lieutenant Menees, the navigator was Second Lieutenant Lyons, and the crew chief was Staff Sergeant Daley. Each of them died in the crash as well. However, Bacon was considered missing in action until September 4, 1944, when the "evidence was considered sufficient to establish the fact of death." The evidence that was considered was the identification on his remains and a marker, as well as the remains themselves. The Disinterment Directive states that the remains identified as S/Sgt. Bacon's were in an advanced state of decomposition and there were fractures of the left humerus and femur. He was then reconsidered to be killed in action (KIA).
After S/Sgt. Bacon was declared KIA, his brother and uncle were notified. They were both contacted by the Quartermaster General's Office of the War Department. His brother, Edwin Bacon, reacted by asking for Mitchell's remains to be buried in France and asked for his remaining personal effects. With his remains, they found S/Sgt. Bacon's keepsake knife, fingernail clippers, and two British pennies. Officials later found the rest of his effects, including nearly everything he had been issued. His uncle, John Mitchell Woods, reacted to the news of his nephew's death by asking for the War Department to double check that he was actually deceased. He held on to a sliver of hope that the report could have been a mistake, but, unfortunately, it was not. His uncle later asked about the circumstances of his nephew's death. Both relatives were given the exact location of S/Sgt. Bacon's grave.
 Emily Rinick at the Normandy American Cemetery beside the cross of the soldier she researched. Courtesy Kizmet Chandler |
Staff Sergeant Mitchell Woods Bacon is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville. His grave is located in Plot F, on Row 11, and is Grave 43. There is also a headstone located in Martinsburg, West Virginia, to honor his memory. His memorial is in Green Hill Cemetery, the same cemetery where his mother, Helen Virginia Tabb Bacon, is buried. For his sacrifice, S/Sgt. Bacon was awarded the Air Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster, meaning he was given this honor multiple times, as well as the Purple Heart. He also qualified for the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. He was awarded most of them posthumously. |
Article prepared by Emily Rinick as a participant in the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute
Academic Adviser: Kizmet Chandler
Nitro High School
June 2019
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
