inCOGNITO
Did you know?
A Brentwood man
saved the
Rhine Bridge?
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M
any heroes have humble beginnings. Lt. John
Battenfield Mitchell once worked at a bowling
alley in Carrick resetting pins, but his heroism
culminated halfway around the world in Nazi Germany.
Serving with the 27th Infantry Battalion, Mitchell found
himself at the foot of the Remagen Bridge, a foothold
access point into Nazi-held territory. The rickety,
WWI railroad bridge was ordered to be destroyed by
German forces to stop advancing troops. Accounts
credit Mitchell with assessing that the bridge was weakly
fortified and rigged by the Germans to collapse. He
had just minutes to disconnect the mines before they
exploded. Word of his actions quickly spread back to
Pittsburgh, giving overnight fame to his father, John
Battenfield Mitchell, Sr., who told the press he knew it
was his son who dismantled the mines, despite other
families with the same surname who tried independently
to verify the reports. Adding to the confusion back
home was the fact that Mitchell was an engineer, a
position typically not seen on the front lines. However,
military documentation specifies that Lt. Mitchell was
a combat engineer – proof enough for his proud father.
The reason engineers were at the front line turns out
that the Germans tried to slow the U.S. advancement
with a 30-foot-wide bomb crater. Engineers in bulldozer
tanks moved in to fill the hole to allow the troops to
move forward. More than 8,000 troops made their way
across the bridge in the first day alone, with engineers
reinforcing it to keep it standing. The event is known
as the “Miracle of Remagen,” and allowed the Allies to
make their way deep into Germany toward victory. ■