# 3330 - 1999 55c Billy Mitchell
1999 55¢ General William “Billy” Mitchell
Pioneers in Aviation Series
City: Milwaukee, WI
Quantity: 100,750,000
Death Of Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum “Billy” Mitchell was born on December 29, 1879, in Nice, France. Mitchell was the son of a wealthy Wisconsin family with political connections. His grandfather had been the wealthiest man in Wisconsin during his lifetime and founded the Milwaukee Road railroad.
After graduating from college at age 18, Mitchell enlisted and served in the Spanish-American War, where he joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps. As early as 1906, he was one of the first to predict that future wars would take place in the skies, as well as on the ground. Mitchell also saw the Wright Brothers fly and soon took flight lessons at the Curtiss Aviation School.
In September 1918, Mitchell planned and commanded almost 1,500 aircraft in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, which was one of the earliest air-ground offenses in history. By the end of the war, Mitchell commanded all American air combat units in France and was famous across Europe, earning the Distinguished Service Cross and Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, and many foreign awards.
Following the war, Mitchell was made deputy director of the Air Service. He believed air power was the key to winning future wars and would spend the rest of his life promoting the idea of air power in warfare.
Mitchell’s prediction that airplanes would make naval vessels obsolete created hard feelings among military branches, which were compelled to defend their very existence. Mitchell demonstrated his point by sinking a captured German battleship in 1921.
1999 55¢ General William “Billy” Mitchell
Pioneers in Aviation Series
City: Milwaukee, WI
Quantity: 100,750,000
Death Of Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum “Billy” Mitchell was born on December 29, 1879, in Nice, France. Mitchell was the son of a wealthy Wisconsin family with political connections. His grandfather had been the wealthiest man in Wisconsin during his lifetime and founded the Milwaukee Road railroad.
After graduating from college at age 18, Mitchell enlisted and served in the Spanish-American War, where he joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps. As early as 1906, he was one of the first to predict that future wars would take place in the skies, as well as on the ground. Mitchell also saw the Wright Brothers fly and soon took flight lessons at the Curtiss Aviation School.
In September 1918, Mitchell planned and commanded almost 1,500 aircraft in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, which was one of the earliest air-ground offenses in history. By the end of the war, Mitchell commanded all American air combat units in France and was famous across Europe, earning the Distinguished Service Cross and Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, and many foreign awards.
Following the war, Mitchell was made deputy director of the Air Service. He believed air power was the key to winning future wars and would spend the rest of his life promoting the idea of air power in warfare.
Mitchell’s prediction that airplanes would make naval vessels obsolete created hard feelings among military branches, which were compelled to defend their very existence. Mitchell demonstrated his point by sinking a captured German battleship in 1921.