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Remember...Charles Mitchell Hannah
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Charles Mitchell Hannah was one of many brave West Virginians who served our country and gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Vietnam. He was born on March 13, 1948, and was raised in High Coal, Boone County, West Virginia. His life was always full of people including his many siblings: Benny, Calvin (Wilson), Frank, Ann, Kathy, and Mike, who supported their brother every step of the way. Charles's brother Calvin and the other siblings called him "Mitchell," and some of his close friends like Goosel (Larry) and Shelby called him "Mitch." His father, Benjamin Harrison Hannah, who was a veteran of World War I and a coal miner, and his mother, Mabel Jarrell Hannah, were big supporters of Charles in his younger years at Whitesville Junior High, where he played football. While he was resting off the field, he would sing his heart out. His favorite songs were "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison and "Boney Maroney," which he sang in a talent show with a few of his friends. As he got older, he started working at an Esso gas station for Holmes Cowley. After a while he saved enough money to buy a 1955 yellow Chevy, which according to his brother Calvin didn't last a day before he took it out for a ride and got it stuck on the railroad tracks out by his house. He would graduate from Sherman High School in 1966 and moved to Gary, Indiana, to work in the steel mills for a few months before returning home and enlisting into the Marine Corps.
During Mitchell's teenage years, the Vietnam War was starting to pick up as the fear of the spread of communism grew. Boone County, which was named in honor of Daniel Boone, was small in population, but people from there joined the military at a higher rate than other places in the nation to help fight the Vietnam War. In an article from the Coal Valley News dated May 24, 1989, 725 West Virginians were killed in Vietnam with 19 being from Boone County.
The United States started military operations in Vietnam on August 7, 1964, when Congress approved Resolution 1145 giving the president full authority to conduct military operations in Southwest Asia without having to declare war. As the war progressed, a total of around 500,000 U.S. troops were stationed there in 1969. This large influx was brought on by the Tet Offensive of 1968, which was a counter-offensive attack by the North Vietnamese. Many people joined the military through ROTC in college or enlisted on their own accord. Many others, however, were drafted, and some Americans, especially the youth, despised the idea of being called up for a war they no longer believed in.
| In the late 1960s there were many protests on college campuses. As the Vietnam War continued into the 70s, the protests were getting more aggressive. When President Nixon announced that the United States military was bombing neighboring Cambodia to destroy supply routes of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), a massive protest broke out at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard pushed back the protesters with tear gas as they were being pelted by rocks and other objects. It is unclear why, but the soldiers opened fire on the returning crowd killing four and injuring nine. There were several protests on West Virginia college campuses, as well as a rally a few months later staged in Charleston contributing to the resistance. These rallies played a role in the president's decision to end the war and bring our soldiers home. |  Charles Mitchell Hannah (#8) and friend Freddie Keys (#10). Courtesy Calvin Hannah |
On May 11, 1967, Mitchell would enlist into the U.S. Marine Corps at Ashland, Kentucky. Mitchell would complete basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and proceed to special training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for guerrilla warfare. During his special training, he received the Marksman Rifle Award and was promoted to private first class, which is the pay grade of E-2. When he finished his training, he was sent to Camp Pendleton, California, for more training in preparation for Vietnam, where he would arrive on October 21, 1967. He was a member of 2nd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force.
 Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
Once deployed, his military occupational specialty (MOS) was 0311-Rifleman. During his tour he engaged in many combat operations that lead him to four duty positions: Squad Radio Man, M-79 Grenade Launcher, 2nd Fire Team Leader, and 1st Fire Team Leader, for which he was promoted to lance corporal. He would be promoted again to corporal, which is a pay grade of E-4. |
Mitchell always wrote letters to his family and friends at home, especially during the holidays. He wrote about how he missed everyone back home, especially his mother. Mitchell's siblings also wrote him often, but his mother wrote him every day. Mitchell told his brother Calvin, "It's really sad when they have mail call and there's no mail for others." A few times Mitchell wrote to his mother trying to explain what he sees: "This war is like a jigsaw puzzle. We take such and such a place today and leave. Then, two weeks later, we have to go back and take it again." According to his mother, Mabel, he always believed it was right to stand up for what you believe in, but during the war he didn't know what he believed to be right. Mitch's mentor was his platoon leader, Staff Sergeant Robert Edward Tully, whom he highly respected during his deployment and who was one of the friends that Mitchell made in Vietnam. His best friend was Lance Corporal Valentine J. Synkowski ("Ski") who was also in his company.
While on a platoon sweep two kilometers south southeast of Hill 55, Mitchell would lose his best friend on May 15, 1968, from enemy machine gun fire. Mabel Hannah had received a letter from Mitchell about the loss of his best friend. Mitchell wrote that he received a letter from Ski's mother shortly after the passing of her son. Calvin recalls reading the letter Mitch had sent to his mother and remembers that he was at a loss with words to try and comfort her. It would not be long until the Hannah family would be dealt the same grief that was tormenting the Synkowski family.
Mitchell's unit had been on patrol all day and night on June 15. They returned to their base long enough to shower and change clothes before they moved out again. Just prior to leaving the base, he had enough time to write one more letter to his mother. His unit proceeded to the south of Hill 55 in what was known as the Dodge City area of the Dai Loc district in Quang Nam Province. During that combat patrol on Father's Day, June 16, 1968, a member of Mitch's platoon had triggered a booby trap. The initial device tripped what is presumed to have been a 105 mm artillery round, which was rigged as a secondary firing device. Unfortunately, the explosion would wound eight and would kill three Marines: Staff Sergeant Robert Tully, Lance Corporal David Gaskin, and Corporal Mitchell Hannah.
| Cpl. Charles Mitchell Hannah's body was recovered and returned home to the Armstrong Funeral Home in Whitesville, West Virginia. His funeral was held at the First Baptist Church also in Whitesville with Reverend Howard Gwinn presiding, and he was honored with a full military burial at Pineview Cemetery in Orgas, West Virginia. Cpl. Mitchell Hannah received the following medals and ribbons for his service: the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Nation Defense Service Ribbon, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. |  Military marker for Charles Mitchell Hannah in Pineview Cemetery. Find A Grave photo courtesy Victor Vilionis |
On March 10, 2011, the West Virginia Legislature introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 14, which commemorated Cpl. Mitchell Hannah by naming bridge #03-03-40.39 on West Virginia Route 3 in Whitesville, Boone County, crossing the Big Coal River as the "CPL Charles 'Mitchell' Hannah Memorial Bridge." He also has his name on the West Virginia Veterans Memorial located as a part of the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, West Virginia. Mitch, along with thousands who served in Vietnam, has his name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall located in Washington, D.C. His name is on Panel 56W, Line 3. The Sherman High School class of 1969 dedicated their yearbook to Mitchell and two other classmates who lost their lives in Vietnam.
Article prepared by Ashleigh Hairston, George Washington High School JROTC
May 2020
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
