An Army major is given the military's second-highest award for his actions in Afghanistan.
By GRAHAM BRINK
Published November 15, 2003
TAMPA - Machine gun fire came in waves. Rocket-propelled grenades exploded, shaking the ground where he stood. Then, a bomb injured more than half of his troops.
Without body armor or a helmet, Army Maj. Mark Mitchell led the remaining handful of commandos against hundreds of well-armed Taliban prisoners and al-Qaida suspects who had taken over a fortress in Afghanistan.
When the dust settled, Mitchell's actions had enabled the escape of a stranded CIA agent and the retrieval of another intelligence officer's body, the only dead American.
For those heroics, the Army on Friday presented Mitchell with the Distinguished Service Cross, the first one awarded since the Vietnam War.
The medal, the military's second-highest award for valor, second only to the Medal of Honor, was awarded for Mitchell's "unparalleled courage under fire, decisive leadership and personal sacrifice."
"I'm unconvinced that my actions deserve this recognition," Mitchell said Friday after his speech to an auditorium filled with military personnel, civilians and family members at MacDill Air Force Base. "I did not expect more than a pat on the back and a "mission accomplished.' "
Mitchell, 38, a Wisconsin native and Gulf War veteran, choked up during his speech, in which he thanked his 30 family members in attendance. He also thanked the men who were with him during the battle, asking them to stand.
CIA Director George Tenet called Mitchell a patriot and a hero. He thanked him for ensuring the CIA agent's escape and securing the body of "fellow warrior" Johnny "Mike" Spann, whose widow attended the ceremony.
"In a world where most flee from danger, Maj. Mark Mitchell belongs to that few" who go forward, Tenet said.
The battle erupted Nov. 25, 2001, after a Taliban prisoner of war used a grenade to blow up himself and a Northern Alliance commander guarding him.
The U.S.-backed Northern Alliance forces had not thoroughly checked the POWs for weapons when they arrived at the large fortress near the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, once a Taliban stronghold.
The results of the three-day battle - the death of CIA agent Spann and the capture of John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban" - received worldwide publicity. But like most missions carried out by Special Operations units, the details, including those of Mitchell's role, had been sketchy.
The story has slowly come to light through Army reports. A video shown Friday added more.
Mitchell and 11 U.S. and British soldiers stationed at an abandoned schoolhouse piled into three vehicles and raced the 15 miles to the fortress. About 500 prisoners had seized control of half the fortress and broken into two armories.
Mitchell radioed one of the CIA agents, who were at the fortress questioning POWs.
"Where's Mike?" he asked, referring to Spann.
"Mike's dead," the agent replied.
Mitchell wanted to scale the fortress' 30-foot wall for a better view but did not have a rope. No problem: A Northern Alliance soldier unwound his turban and lowered the cloth to Mitchell and three of his men.
Once atop, they came under fire. Rocket-propelled grenades crumbled parts of the wall. Mitchell carried just an M4 rifle and M9 pistol. The men called in airstrikes, and Navy F-18s zoomed in and released 2,000-pound guided bombs that landed just a few hundred yards away. The bombardment helped even the odds.
Mitchell pulled back his troops, now numbering 15, for the night and worked up a plan for the next day.
But as Tenet said Friday, "As often it does in combat, before it could get better, it would get worse."
The next day, one of the 2,000-pound bombs fell too close, injuring five Americans and four Britons in his unit. The others evacuated their fellow soldiers.
That night, Mitchell and five men went back to the fortress to direct more aerial attacks. Mitchell had to persuade an AC-130 gunship to stick around after its crew thought the prisoners were firing surface-to-air missiles. Mitchell assured them they were harmless rockets. The crew descended again and began firing thousands of rounds, blowing up one of the armories in a huge fireball.
The next morning, with the help of Northern Alliance soldiers, the battle was over. Spann's body was retrieved. About 400 prisoners were dead.
One of the few Taliban prisoners alive was Lindh. Mitchell did not see Lindh at the fortress, only later after he was captured.
"He was a very sorry sight," Mitchell said.
Military officials concluded the actions of Mitchell and his men helped keep the Taliban from bolstering their ranks in a volatile region. If the prisoners had gotten away, they could have returned Mazar-e-Sharif to Taliban hands, which easily could have extended the war and cost more U.S. lives.
The fighting is considered by military officials to be the most intense urban combat experienced by Americans in Afghanistan.
Mitchell said he had no time to think about dying. He had trained his whole adult life for what happened those three days, he said.
He said he has no plans to make lots of public appearances, electing to honor the motto of Special Operations: "Quiet Professionals." Mitchell works with Special Operations Command at MacDill.
"I don't want to make a spectacle of myself," he said.
