The Cemetery Hours are 7:30am to 7:00pm 7 days a week. The gates are locked when the cemetery is closed.
Major General William "Billy" Mitchell
29 December 1879 - 19 February 1936
On this, the 33rd Anniversary of the start of Operation Desert Storm, I decided that the Spirit of Billy Mitchell, who prophesied about Air Power's increasingly significant role in future military engagements, should be made public. Your mission is to find where his spirit resides, and take a photo of yourself or something that identifies you in front of his large family monument. You can find Billy's specific grave to the far left of those lined up in front of the monument with the initials W.M. and the World War I Army Air Service pilot wings etched below. Feel free to leave a penny on his grave to show the family that you visited him (not required, though the photo is). Billy's inscription on the family monument is on the East side. His grandfather, grandmother, father, and mother's inscriptions are on the North side of the monument. His grandfather, Alexander Mitchell, was a U.S. Congressman, founder of the Marine Bank of Wisconsin, and President of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway, making him the wealthiest man in the state of Wisconsin at the time of his death. The city of Mitchell, South Dakota, is named for him. Billy's father, John L. Mitchell, was a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator. On the West side of the family monument is Billy's brother, 1Lt John L. Mitchell, Jr., who was Killed in Action in France during World War I. You will not find his grave in front of the family monument, as he was buried at the Saint Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial in Lorraine, France.
You only need post one photo of yourself or something that identifies you on any side of the large family monument. Nothing else is required for this Virtual.
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Many of Billy Mitchell's prophecies about Airpower came true after his death; including his prediction that the Japanese would attack the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines early one Sunday morning; and that Airpower could be used to great effect as an offensive weapon separate from the Army and Navy, as was demonstrated during nearly every war since, but especially during the Gulf War in 1991, and more recently during the War on Terrorism.
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Billy Mitchell was born on December 29, 1879, in Nice, France. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1898 for service during the Spanish-American War, and was commissioned a 2d Lt in the Signal Corps the same year. Mitchell served in Cuba, the Philippines, Alaska, and as an instructor at the Army Signal School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, before being assigned to the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on the Army General Staff in 1912. He completed flight training in 1916, and deployed to France in April 1917, when the United States declared war on Germany. Gen Mitchell rose to command all American air combat units in France during World War I, and he personally planned and led the air phase of the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in September 1918. After returning to the U.S. in March 1919, he was appointed the deputy director of the Army Air Service, and remained in that position until March 1925. During this time, Gen Mitchell took command of the 1st Provisional Air Brigade for a series of tests to prove that bombers could be used to destroy Navy ships, culminating in the sinking of the captured German battleship Ostfriesland on July 21, 1921. In March 1925, he was assigned as air officer to an Army Corps in San Antonio, Texas. When the Navy dirigible Shenandoah crashed in September 1925, Mitchell issued statements condemning the War Department for mishandling the national defense, for which he was court-martialed in November 1925. He resigned his commission on February 1, 1926, and spent the remainder of his life crusading for Air Power in the United States. Billy Mitchell died on February 19, 1936, and was buried at the Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his death, President Roosevelt elevated him to the rank of Major General. In 1946, Mitchell was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his outstanding pioneer service and foresight in the field of American military aviation. The North American B-25 Mitchell bomber was named for Gen Mitchell, and to this day it is the only American military aircraft named after a specific person. Billy Mitchell wrote the books "Winged Defense" in 1925, and "Skyways" in 1930.
Virtual cache placed with permission.
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Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
Of the 4,000 caches released during Virtual Rewards 4.0, this cache was the first submitted and published.