MSgt Troy G. Mitchell
Died: Oct 29, 2009

PIG PICKIN for The Mitchell Family
Saturday April 10, 2010 2-8pm
Gilligan’s Bar
HWY 50 Holly Ridge, NC
$20 Cover at the door

PS Charities and it's title sponsor, Professional Solutions, will be hosting a Pig Pickin at Gilligan’s Bar in Surf City, NC to raise money in memory of Master Sergeant Troy Mitchell. MSgt Mitchell was murdered in Jackson, TN in October, 2009. He is buried in the Mitchell Family Cemetery, on their
family property. ALL of the proceeds from this event will go to Kelly Mitchell and their 7 son’s to help preserve the land where this hero is buried.

Professional Solutions will match dollar for dollar the money raised at this event. We’ll have food, booze, music and dancing, along with raffle items. So come out and join us as we honor an American Hero, and his family.

For more information please contact Lauren at:
lauren.rachal@pscharities.org

November 5, 2009
Friends, Family, Neighbors, Marines, Sailors & Soldiers,

Thanks you so very much for the support and most honorable send off of my great friend MSgt Troy G. Mitchell (USMC Retired) yesterday. The ceremony was amazing, the town spirit and support unbelievable. Never in my life have I seen so much respect rendered a Marine. I couldn't think of one more deserving than Troy. He was a true leader of Marines. I am forever thankful to Kelly & the boys for the honor of allowing me to deliver the eulogy about how Troy lived, inspired and loved.

Please continue the monetary support to the Troy G Mitchell Fund. Any and all donations, big or small help and we appreciate the support. We will begin the tough work now of consolidating and handling the family benefits and assistance packages. As I began to help Kelly with this, I was notified of a small error found in the email strings I put out about the address for sending in the checks to the Memorial Fund. Please make sure they are sent to 57 Directors Row, not 59. So the correct address is:

Payable to: The Troy G Mitchell Fund
Patriot Equity Credit Union
57 Directors Row
Jackson TN 38305
Phone (731) 668-1155

Thank you,
Joe Settelen (MGySgt USMC Retired)

November 1, 2009
Family, Friends, & Marines,

Arrangements have been finalized to lay to rest MSgt Troy G. Mitchell (USMC Retired).

A service will be held Wednesday, 4 Nov 2009 at 1:00 PM.

The place & location of this service is:
Englewood Baptist Church
2239 N Highland Ave,
Jackson, TN 38305.
(Located off I-40 Exit 82)

There will be no open public viewing for Troy. All wishing to pay their respects are asked to proceed promptly to Englewood Baptist Church no later than 12: 45 PM on 4 Nov 2009. Following the ceremony MSgt Troy Mitchell will be laid to rest at the Mitchell Family Cemetery with full military honors. This portion of the service is for Family, Close Family Friends & Troy's Marines (Also any and all military, police or emergency care personnel who want to render honors). This private burial location will be announced at the service, and a vehicle procession to MSgt Mitchells resting place, will depart immediately follow the service.

The family cannot thank enough the support, generosity and out pouring of love & respect from the Jackson Tennessee community and many who have sent their prayers, support and condolences from across the nation. The family cannot possibly meet and thank everyone, before, during or after this service. Please know we will try to follow up in the following weeks and accept our “Thank You” now for your loving support.

Donation In lieu of Flowers can be directed to:

The Troy G Mitchell Fund
Patriot Equity Credit Union
57 Directors Row
Jackson TN 38305
Phone (731) 668-1155

Flight Info & Options :

Flights into the area can be either Memphis Airport (Airport Code MEM) or Nashville Airport (BNA).

Memphis only has an off airport rental car facility which adds about 20 minutes to the total travel time. There are no on site rental car counters, you must book on line and or take the shuttle to the rental car off site area of choice. The drive time to Jackson TN once you have your car, is about 1 hour 10-15 minutes of interstate driving on I-240 and I-40.

Nashville on the other hand is about an 1 hour 25-30 minutes drive time from Jackson TN but has an on airport rental car pick up and drop off site. So the total travel time is about equal in time spent getting to Jackson TN, although the drive time is a bit longer. Leaving you with two options for travel and airline services.

There are various hotels to in Jackson TN to include a Holiday Inn, a La Quinta Inn, a Double Tree and other value hotels. Staying anywhere between Exit 76 & 82 off I-40 will put you less than 10 minutes from the church location.

Respectfully Posted For the Mitchell Family,
Joe Settelen
MGySgt USMC Retired

October 29, 2009
Friends, Marines…All who have been so supportive these last few days...

Tonight Joey Mitchell, Troy's oldest son just called me to tell me Troy's body finally gave out and he was pronounced gone just a short bit ago. So we lost Troy from this earth. But Troy, as always….giving to the very end, wanted his organs to go to help others and he will give life to six or seven others in his passing. His body was in excellent health as you would expect of a 22 year veteran and retired reconnaissance Marine. My friends, we lost one of our very best recon Marines, fathers, husbands, and just an all around wonderful men tonight.

You can't even put into words the loving devotion Troy had for all of mankind. A true national hero, quiet & humble, smart and sharp, survivor of some of the toughest military training, wars, deployments, reconnaissance patrols, and sensitive special operations missions. He was the real deal, a full instrument of justice in which he hunted down those who seek to destroy the good in life and put away those who prey on the weak in this world. Troy simply was the best man I have ever met and had the privilege to know in my life. He saved me from myself, at a point when I was at the lowest time ever in my Marine Corps career. Just like he trained and mentored many of you, he brought me back. He helped me re-find me center, my purpose. He rebuilt my courage, my faith, and my pride in being a Marine, a Christian a father. He picked me up when I had a failed mission, and showed me why we all have to keep going, keep being there for one another, for the mission, for the betterment of all of mankind. There just wasn't a better person in my life than MSgt Troy G. Mitchell.

I know many of you feel the same and were mentored by Troy. You couldn't not be touched by him as he was the only Marine to date that I know of in reconnaissance to have served in every Marine recon unit to include active & reserve commands. I know all of you, like me, will miss him greatly. But we all know right where he is and you can count on seeing him again at your passing from this earth. No matter what your belief system is right now.   

In the next several days I will put out some final word on his funeral arrangements. Joey believes it will be sometime next week. There will be more to follow. What I do know is that a Memorial Fund has been set up for proceeds in Lieu of flowers if you would like to help the family. The account number is unavailable to me this evening but the account is set up and named:

The Troy G Mitchell Fund
Patriot Equity Credit Union
57 Directors Row
Jackson TN 38305

Phone (731) 668-1155 for more info on a routing number for electronic funds transfers and sending of checks & donations. I'll follow up with the bank and update this information tomorrow AM.

Friends, Marines….I will head out to be with the Mitchell family and meet Wren their son, who is still working his way back from Iraq tomorrow. I'll link up with Wren in Memphis TN. I'll then work with the family on finalizing the arrangements and putting the word out. Joey said it most likely would not be before Saturday that they will have further information, as they wade through the National Cemetery options and the family gets together to decide how things will be arranged to honor Troy. He was the VP of the local Marine Corps League, a Force Recon Association Member, a co-chair to the Locksmithing Association, and very active in the community of Jackson TN. So there will be plenty of support available to help with the arrangements. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to MGySgt Ron Wetherbee for aligning the SOF Care Coalition Support, and MGySgt Rich Barrett for putting together the contacts to the local TN VA and Marine Corps League for me, and MGySgt Chad Ramsey & Carl Froisy for getting the word out and running interference within the active duty reconnaissance community. Brothers, I couldn't do much at all as a former action guy, without your support. Thank You.

Please continue your generous support. Scan the emails lines and please “Forward”, I spent a long time updating the address list but I am sure I missed some folks.

Semper Fi
Joe Settelen (MGySgt Ret)  

Grief, shock over locksmith Mitchell's death
By MARIANN MARTIN
Jackson Sun
31 OCT 2009

Jerry Price only met Troy Mitchell once, but he remembers his kindness. The men had lunch at the same time at Catfish Cabin this summer. Price had a latch on his truck topper that needed a key and noticed Mitchell was a locksmith.

"I walked up and asked him if he thought he could help me," Price said Friday. "He went through his keys and found one that worked. When I asked him how much I owed him, he refused to take any money.

"He was such a nice guy, and he did not deserve this."
Price's story was one of dozens shared from all across the country Friday as Troy Mitchell's family and friends mourned his death.

Mitchell, 44, died about 11:20 p.m. Thursday at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital after being shot in the face Wednesday morning while working on a car at Guardian Courts Apartments on Hollywood Drive.

Police said they believe the motive was robbery. No arrests have been made.
Mitchell was a retired 22-year Marine combat veteran who served in several conflicts, including Bosnia and Iraq. He was recognized for his service with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and other citations.

The family moved to Jackson in 2004, and Mitchell opened his locksmith business soon after that. He and his wife, Kelly, have seven sons ranging in age from 5 to 27.
His second son, Ren Mitchell, is serving in Iraq and is on his way home to be with the family.
Funeral arrangements have not been made. The family plans to donate Mitchell's organs.

Coming to terms
Mitchell's father-in-law, Harvey Lovelace, said Friday morning that it was impossible to find words to express the family's emotional state.

"The hurt is somewhere else. It has not really sunk in yet," he said, speaking with difficulty as he tried to control his emotions.

Lovelace said he served in the military with Mitchell's father in North Dakota, when Mitchell was 14.
"He is more like a son than a son-in-law," Lovelace said. "We were very fortunate for our children to marry someone ... easy to love."

'A major loss'
Friday afternoon, fellow Marine Ron Wetherbee said Mitchell's death was devastating to the entire Marine family.

"This is a major loss for the Marine Corps," said Wetherbee, a senior enlisted Marine advisor at Camp Lejeune, N.C. "The outpouring all across the country has been phenomenal."

Wetherbee said he and Mitchell first served together in the early '90s while both were in the Marines in reconnaissance units.

"You take every positive word you can think of in the dictionary, and that is Troy," Wetherbee said. "He would give you the shirt off his back."

Mitchell served in the Gulf War, fighting in the Battle of Khafji in January 1991, and then later served in Bosnia.

But Wetherbee said Mitchell's greatest contribution came when he was stationed in Washington, D.C.

Mitchell's efforts led to reconnaissance becoming a primary military occupation speciality, which has changed the way they operate, Wetherbee said.

"Because of everything he has done - all the hard work and dedication - things are very different for 1,400 Marines (in reconnaissance units) today," Wetherbee said.

Wetherbee recalled the time he stayed with Mitchell for several weeks while they were in Washington, D.C.

"We would spend the evening with him teaching me how to pick locks," Wetherbee said. "What he could do in a couple (of) seconds would take me about 30 minutes."

'The act is so foreign'
As friends and family shared memories of Mitchell, they also expressed their horror at his shooting.

"I don't understand the people that would do something like this," Beverly Pearson said. "These are hoodlums, punk kids. Where are their parents?"

Pearson, 46, said she met Mitchell when he came out to her home to jump off her car. He came to her rescue numerous times when she locked her keys in her car or left on her lights.

"I was devastated when I found out he was shot," she said. "He was a wonderful man."
Mitchell's father-in-law agreed that it was difficult for him to think about how someone could shoot a man in the face for a wallet and cell phone.

"It is so unnecessary, and so senseless, and so stupid ... a working guy that is not going to have a lot of money in his pocket," he said. "The act is so foreign to me, I can't even grasp it."

Even so, Lovelace said he "feels for those people.

"I know you have the emotion of anger, (but) that is senseless and stupid, and you pray and ask why something like this so senseless had to happen," Lovelace said. "It doesn't make sense, but the standard of a Christianity is to exhibit those things of your faith when they are not going your way."

Central grad, vet killed
Victim likely shot during robbery in Tennessee
By Chuck Hega - Grand Forks Herald
30 OCT 2009

A 1983 graduate of Grand Forks Central High School, a 22-year Marine veteran who served in Bosnia and Iraq, has died after being shot Wednesday as he worked on a car near his home in Jackson, Tenn.

Troy Mitchell, 44, died Thursday night from a gunshot wound to the face, according to the Jackson Sun newspaper.

Jackson police investigators said they believe Mitchell, owner of a lock and safe store in Jackson, was shot apparently during a robbery. He was attacked as he worked to replace a bad ignition switch in a customer’s car, and one of Mitchell’s sons told police that his father’s cell phone and wallet were missing.

Mitchell and his wife, Kelly, have seven sons ranging in age from 5 to 27. The family moved to Jackson in 2004.

“We wrestled together at Central in 1981, ’82 and ’83,” said Steve Heyd, now principal at New Heights Elementary School in East Grand Forks.

“I think he was at 112 pounds, and he had to cut weight. He was a terrifically hard worker, the perfect example of the all-American kid.”

Mitchell joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Central. While in combat overseas, he received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, among other citations.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Heyd said.

One of Mitchell’s sons is serving in Iraq now.

Jeff Delaney, owner of another Jackson locksmith shop and a friend of Mitchell, reacted bitterly to a report that a witness had seen four young men running from the area about the time of the shooting.

“It is indescribable to see what these people have done by this one senseless act,” Delaney told the Jackson newspaper. Mitchell “spent all his life serving his country, and he comes home and some punk kids put a bullet in his head.

“We are all just heartbroken.”

Though Heyd and Mitchell had not crossed paths since high school, Heyd said he heard occasional reports about his former teammate, and he had the same bewildered reaction.

“You make it through a war, and then this.”