Pilot who died in Afghanistan crash 'was living his dream'

Marine Corps captain among 4 troops killed in helicopters' collision

Marine Corps Capt. David "Seth" Mitchell was always enamored of aircraft. In a fourth-grade assignment, he said he would like to be 11, so that he could take flying lessons. It was obvious to everyone who knew him that he was going to be a pilot.

"This was a goal, something that until they said no, he wasn't going to give up," said his father, Steve Mitchell, who watched Friday as three Cobra helicopters flew in formation over his son's final resting place near a blue atlas cedar tree in Arlington National Cemetery.

Mitchell, 30, of Loveland, Ohio, was killed Oct. 26 when two helicopters collided while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan's Helmand province. Mitchell was assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Four U.S. troops were killed in the crash, and two were injured, according to military reports.

Mitchell, a 1997 graduate of Loveland High School, was senior class president. His classmates voted him "Mr. Personality."

"Seth was one of the kids that would stand out far above the rest," said Julie Powers, a Loveland High math teacher who advised Mitchell on the student council for four years.

In addition to his leadership skills and constant grin, Mitchell worked hard to achieve good grades, play football and run track at his school, she said.

"His dream goal was to be a pilot, and I knew that from when he walked into the building as a ninth-grader, that was more than a dream for him; it was a complete focus," Powers said. "It didn't matter that he wasn't your typical AP [Advanced Placement] scholar; he was going to do it."

Powers added, "I don't think the word 'can't' is in his vocabulary."

Mitchell majored in English at Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. By his senior year in 2001, he was an executive officer in the school's Corps, according to a Virginia Tech News report.

Mitchell served four years as a Marine, but he still was not an aviator. He did not meet the vision requirements to qualify for the flight program, his father said. After corrective surgery, Mitchell received a private pilot's license and continued in the prerequisite programs for the Marine flight school.

"All the service branches take the best and brightest right out of the academy," Steve Mitchell said. "Seth was coming a different route."

Not wanting to risk having his Marine aviation application lost in the mail, Seth Mitchell drove to the Pentagon to hand-deliver it. He was accepted and became a Cobra helicopter pilot.

Mitchell was two months into his third deployment. He had served in Iraq as a ground intelligence officer and as a pilot. He and another Marine from his squadron volunteered to go early to Afghanistan "because he thought he was needed," his father said.

Steve Mitchell said his son was so humble that he is just now learning of his son's many awards and accomplishments.

About 175 people gathered Friday behind Steve Mitchell and his wife, Connie, and their son, Drew, as they followed the horse-drawn caisson that carried Seth Mitchell's remains. Navy Chaplain Guy M. Lee spoke words of a hero's leadership, valor and determination. The family members stood stoically as three volleys were fired.

"He loved this country and served it well," Mitchell's father said. "I'd give anything for this not to have happened, but he was living his dream."

Mitchell is the 113th casualty of Operation Enduring Freedom and the 577th service member from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.