Bio

     Jimmy Mitchell was a spectacular athlete and natural leader who played basketball for Head Coach Joe Brennan at Palomar College. In two seasons, the undersized guard paced the Comets to a South Central Conference Championship. After graduating from San Diego State, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. An infantry officer and platoon leader, he was killed on combat patrol with D Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division on Ky Hoa Island, Quang Tin, South Vietnam, 31 August, 1965. The former student body president at San Dieguito High was 25 and the first former Palomar College student to give his life for his country in military action. Consequently, his name is the first listed among 33 honorees on the Palomar College Veterans’ Memorial near the college flag pole. Lt. Mitchell is survived by his wife, the former Jan Berttoncini, and daughter Erin.