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Thank you for adding this hero to the thread. What fine men and women we have in todays Armed Forces. I salute each of you.

****Brookfield soldier to receive medal****

Distinguished Service Cross cites courage
By TOM HELD

Last Updated: Nov. 7, 2003
The first Distinguished Service Cross awarded since the Vietnam War will be bestowed upon a Special Forces officer from Brookfield during a ceremony in Florida on Thursday.

Maj. Mark Mitchell will receive the nation's second-highest military honor for his "unparalleled courage under fire, decisive leadership and personal sacrifice" during a fierce, three-day battle in outside Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan.

Johnny Michael "Mike" Spann was the first American killed in Afghanistan during the uprising of roughly 500 Taliban prisoners in the Qala-I-Jangi fortress. Mitchell led the Special Forces group that quelled the uprising and ensured that Spann's partner escaped safely.

Mitchell's parents, Terry and Kathy Mitchell, will join him at the award ceremony MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Fla.

The Special Forces commander graduated from Marquette University High School and Marquette University before joining the Army. He served in the 24th Infantry Division in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, in 1990-'91.

In the first months of the war in Afghanistan, Mitchell commanded a Special Forces group assisting the Northern Alliance and preparing the area around Mazar-e-Sharif for humanitarian aid workers.

When the uprising broke out in the fortress, he gathered roughly 15 Special Forces troops and led them into battle against Taliban prisoners who had armed themselves from stockpiles of machine guns, automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

With assistance from the Northern Alliance, the Special Forces troops ended the uprising on the third day.

Mitchell has continued to serve under the Special Forces central command in the war on Iraq.