George Mitchell was born in Albany, Georgia in 1924. His father owned a barbershop with his brothers and two other men. Mitchell lived at his grandfather's place on 125 acres until he was old enough to go to school. He stayed in that school system until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was out on his paper route that Sunday morning. His father had died. He wondered how it would affect him. He was trying to work and go to school. He wanted to get a scholarship to either Tuskegee [Annotator's Note: Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama] or Morehouse [Annotator's Note: Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia]. He graduated in June [Annotator's Note: June 1943] and received his notice to go before the selection board. There was a Marine Corps corporal there and Mitchell thought he looked good in his uniform. There were three busloads of all Black kids sent to Fort Benning [Annotator's Note: Fort Benning, Georgia]. He asked his friend to go with him to the Marine Corps line. The Marine made them go stand by a wall and told them not to move. After three hours, they were taken to get some tests done. He told them to go home and then report on 18 August 1943 to North Carolina [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina]. Mitchell was assigned to Platoon 156. It was an all Black unit. He had been a Boy Scout growing up and he was made Second in the squad. They went through boot camp. About a month before graduating, the DI [Annotator's Note: Drill Instructor] made Mitchell the squad leader. Mitchell's Scout Master had been in the Army in World War 1 and had given him good training.

George Mitchell wanted to be in the Coast Artillery, but that unit was deleted, and he was drifting from job to job. He asked for a transfer to where a friend was. He got orders to transfer from there two weeks later, but he wanted to follow his friend to Parris Island [Annotator’s Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina]. He asked if he could test for that job too. During the night, he would go in the bathroom and study. He took the test and got a 90. He felt good about that and he got put on the list to Parris Island. He thought he was going to Paris, France. He got to Parris Island and then learned the truth. He made PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class] and then Corporal. He stayed there until the war was over. He had made Sergeant by then. He was told he could go to college. He then got orders to Washington, D.C. to be on the Commandant's staff in Arlington, Virginia at Headquarters Marine Corps in 1947.

[Annotator's Note: George Mitchell served on the Commandant's staff in Arlington, Virginia at Headquarters Marine Corps.] In 1948, the Commandant [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Clifton Bledsoe Cates] asked him where he would like to be assigned and he requested Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina] because he had a girl there he wanted to marry. He was transferred and got married. They had a child later. He joined General Hart’s staff [Annotator’s Note: US Marine Corps General Franklin A. Hart]. The General's wife wanted him to supervise setting up the house for some guests who were coming. Mitchell forgot that the General had requested he get his suit cleaned and pressed. It was his second day on the job. When Mitchell gets mad, his eyes tear up. [Annotator's Note: he continues with more about helping his wife that day]. Commander Stutts [Annotator's Note: unable to identify] was in charge of the medical unit. Mitchell had done him some favors. He told Stutts what had happened at General Hart's. Stutts put Mitchell in the hospital until General Hart shipped out to another assignment. Hart left the base that morning, and Mitchell left the hospital that afternoon.

George Mitchell received orders to go to Quantico [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia]. His wife was in New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] with their child. The man in charge of the ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] unit there was an alcoholic. [Annotator's Note: Mitchell's story is difficult to follow.] Mitchell got a new job there but did not like how the promotion happened as it was done with a bribe. Mitchell volunteered to go to California. He could not find any place for his family to stay. Mitchell went to the General's quarters to see him. The General's wife had him and his family stay with them for a couple of days. Another soldier at Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, San Diego County, California] let them stay with his family. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer cuts him off to return to the story of Camp Montford Point, North Carolina.]

George Mitchell feels the training at Montford Point [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina] was as good as the training White soldiers got. He would read and study at night while there. In December [Annotator's Note: December 1943], snow was on the ground and they went to the rifle range. He was learning to fire the M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He fell on the deck and lined up and moved the snow out of the way. The DI [Annotator's Note: Drill Instructor] made him put the snow back and lay down in it. That taught him a lesson. The basic training was the same as the other Marines. It was even more severe in order to excel. It was that way throughout the Corps. He worked for about 15 generals in two tours of duty with Headquarters Marine Corps. Once in 1947 and 1948; once in Vietnam [Annotator's Note: during the Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. In Vietnam, he slept with his clothes on and with his weapons. A normal tour of duty was 12 months and he was there for 23 months. He told his General [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Robert Everton Cushman, Jr.] he should go. The General agreed and three days later he was on the way home. Being on general staff was good duty, but it had no room for error. When he returned, he left the service.

George Mitchell was in Escondido [Annotator's Note: Escondido, California] and received a letter from a General's [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Robert Everton Cushman, Jr.] aide. The General wanted him to return to active duty. The General spoke to him on the phone that he needed him to come to D.C. [Annotator's Note: Washington, D.C.] The General had become the Commandant of the Marine Corps and wanted him on his staff. Mitchell went back in and then went overseas. It made Mitchell feel good that he had been asked back on active duty. It was a good life except when he was being shot at. [Annotator's Note: Mitchell tells a story about being in Vietnam that is hard to follow.] Mitchell was asked to go and try to find his friend's body after he was shot down flying a helicopter, but he said no.

George Mitchell feels he was in an outfit that had always denied them being a part of it, the Marine Corps. He feels he had to really prove himself worthy. Men are the same as cars, there are good ones, not good ones, and ones who keep going all the time. He proved he could do the things that they said he could not do. You prove you are qualified and then you are shoulder to shoulder. There are people in every outfit who will not function, those who cannot function, and then there are people who want to be qualified. When he first checked into Montford Point [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina], he was in Platoon 156, which means there were 155 Platoons ahead of him. He knew how to shoot from being a kid on a farm. He traveled a lot and the old man [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Robert Everton Cushman, Jr.] would be in the first vehicle. Mitchell and the aide would be in the second vehicle. He got to see people he would never have gotten to see. They met Jim Jones [Annotator's Note: James Warren Jones; American cult leader, Jonestown, Guyana] and he told the General he thought he was a shit bird. The two of them had a good relationship.

George Mitchell feels that The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] serves a purpose within the history of time. If you do not see it, you forget it. He is an expert in all of his weapons. When he was at Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina], he would go to the recruit training area. Some people just cannot do certain things. He had people who worked for him. If he was good, he would reward him. If he was not, it does not work. Mitchell wants any future viewer to know that he who tries harder, will succeed. He told his children his history. He hopes they can say he did good. Mitchell's father died when he was six years old. He lived with his grandfather and he learned a lot from him. Anybody who wants to succeed is permitted to do whatever is necessary to accomplish what they would like to. He hopes the video gets cleaned up. Old Marines have a habit of slipping into old habits. He learned a lot. If you do not know, learn. He feels he and his friend carried the load for a lot who did not make it.