Frank Clinton Mitchell was born January 15, 1896 in St. Louis, MO. He was trained as a plumber, a profession he performed throughout his life. Mitchell enlisted for World War I service in the U.S. Navy on June 14, 1918 and served four years as a Plumber and Fitter, first class. He began his service stationed at the U.S. Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois where he was able to make frequent trips to Chicago to meet friends and enjoy the entertainment a big city had to offer. He wrote to his sweetheart and future wife, Edna Kessler often. Occasionally, he signed his letters from the “same old dry land sailor,” demonstrating his dissatisfaction with navy life, in which he spent most of his time away from ships doing construction work. “I seen more of a ship in St. Louis than I will ever see at the Great Lakes.” Mitchell saw no action in the war, but in the summer of 1919 he was assigned to the U.S.S. El Sol, a freighter that carried American troops back from Europe during demobilization. Mitchell made two trans-Atlantic trips on the ship before he was discharged. Mitchell’s service certificate states that through September 2, 1919 he was on the ships USS Great Lakes, RS New York, and USS El Sol. He was discharged from the navy in September 1921 and returned to civilian life as a plumber. Mitchell died on October 19, 1977 in St. Louis, MO.