Inside Our Digital Collections: Voices from Vietnam

The CALS Butler Center’s Research Services Division recently digitized reel-to-reel recordings of dictated letters home from a Little Rock U.S. Marine who was serving in Vietnam.

Listen to the recordings.

James Edward Mitchell was born in Little Rock on January 19, 1942, to William Starr Mitchell and Virginia Grobmeyer Mitchell. After graduating from Little Rock’s Hall High School, he attended the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University, graduating in 1964. He married Elizabeth Anne Harrill of Gaffney, South Carolina, on August 21, 1965.

Having served in ROTC and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, Mitchell received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on June 3, 1964. He deployed to Vietnam as a captain in the fall of 1967. During his nine-month tour of duty, he served as commanding officer of Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines; as administrative assistant in the battalion headquarters; and as commander of India Company, also of the 3rd Battalion.

After his service in the Marines, Mitchell attended Yale School of Law, graduating in 1971. The family made their home in Vassalboro, Maine, where he practiced law and served as a judge. He died on September 9, 2016.

These materials are part of the CALS Butler Center’s Arkansas Vietnam War Project.