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(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 13:43, 20 July 2017 (UTC)Reply
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Billy Mitchell. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
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Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 05:26, 7 December 2017 (UTC)Reply
This claim, "He is also the only individual for whom an American military aircraft design, the North American B-25 Mitchell, is named," in the introduction, seems incomplete, since the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is also named after an individual. I feel that this should be either changed to "the only United States citizen" or "the only fixed wing aircraft," or some other way to separate the B-25 from the UH-60. 68.49.40.87 (talk) 18:05, 27 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
So this one has been disproven many times, but for some reason your page still lists Mitchell as a MoH recipient, and cites the USAF (which is obviously wrong). The Senate Report from the 1970s erroneously confused Mitchell's Congressional Gold Medal as a Medal of Honor, which is the source of the error in the Army's Center of Military History listing, etc. They have since removed the award listing from the DoD's database at https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/ (it's conspicuously absent under either the Army or AF listing for the MoH). The bill for Mitchell's award was amended to say "a gold medal" in the body instead of the original language, which was "a Medal of Honor." But they forgot to edit the title of the bill, which was passed saying it was a Medal of Honor (which does not control the legislation). When the House committee that made the amendment reported the change, it clarified that "it should be noted that the legislation under consideration does not authorize an award of the Congressional Medal of Honor," which seems very dispositive on this point. See Mears, The Medal of Honor: The Evolution of America's Highest Military Decoration, p. 149. The bill in question was for the Congressional Gold Medal that the AF helped to design, and which is in the possession of the National Museum of the AF. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 03:11, 20 April 2019 (UTC) So, recommend clarifying that it's a citation for a Congressional Gold Medal, and remove the photo of the AF Medal of Honor, which did not even exist at that time (thus, it would be erroneous even if Mitchell had received a MoH, which he did not) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 03:14, 20 April 2019 (UTC) And if you look at the Center of Military History's site (https://history.army.mil/moh/asaoc.html), it has the following explanation of Mitchell's award: "1) There is some debate as to whether William Mitchell was in fact awarded the Medal of Honor or the Congressional Gold Medal. The act cited directs that "a gold medal" be struck and presented in recognition of Mitchell's pioneer service and foresight. It does not, however, specify which medal was to be awarded. In July 1945 the War Department had recommended to Congress that special gold medals be voted by Congress in cases of outstanding leadership and that the Medal of Honor be reserved for awarding only gallantry in action. Colonel William "Billy" Mitchell was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, which was announced using the identical citation and approved date as listed for the award above. It seems apparent that the intention was to award the Gold Medal rather than the Medal of Honor. However, for some unknown reason, when the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs published its report, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1978 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1979) compiling all Medal of Honor Recipient citations, William Mitchell and his citation were included. This website takes its Medal of Honor citations from that report, and that is why Mitchell's citation is included here - though it should be noted, the "gold medal" authorized above is most likely the Congressional Gold Medal, rather than the Medal of Honor." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 17:04, 20 April 2019 (UTC)Reply
So I looked into this because I saw multiple references to him being promoted to Maj. Gen. decades apart, which cannot possibly be accurate. I've also seen multiple sources saying both that FDR and Truman promoted him, but with no citation. The AF history office says the 1942 bill failed to pass, and the 2003 bill cited in this article also failed to pass. I verified that Mitchell's promotion was included in the FY2005 NDAA (118 Stat. 1918), but the AF history office again says that was never acted on (since the bill merely allows it to happen, which of course doesn't ensure it will). The AF history office claimed that a 1930 law allowed officers from WWI to be retired at the highest rank held (even temporary rank) during WWI. I pulled the law, and it does indeed say this, but Mitchell appears excluded because it only applies to officers advanced to the retired list. Due to Mitchell's resignation, it appears this never occurred--I checked in the Army Register from 1926 to 1928 and he wasn't in it, so evidently he just resigned without retiring. By law that would make him a Colonel at the point of separation, and while he held Brig. Gen. several times, he's not covered under that law, so he is not considered a retired general, or a retiree at all (evidently). I tried to scrub the article while incorporating this new information, but I undoubtedly didn't get everything (someone stuck a picture of major general stars in there that I'm not sure what do with--I guess we can find a picture of colonel rank?). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxtrot5151 (talk • contribs) 03:23, 23 January 2022 (UTC)Reply