Honoring June’s Humboldt Hero: John Mitchell, USS Pueblo POW and Lifelong Adventurer

Press release from Scott Hammond Insurance:

John Mitchell

The public is invited to join us in recognizing our June 2025 Humboldt Hero, Third Class Electrician’s Mate John Mitchell. A short ceremony will be held at noon this Friday, June 27th, at the corner of G and 7th streets in Eureka.

John was born in 1947 at the hospital in Woodland, California. It was the closest one to the town where his parents lived, which was Dixon. John grew up there and graduated from Dixon High School in 1965. When he was very young, his father gave him the name and date of where he should show up for his first job, and he’s been working ever since. John also was very much into building fast cars and having girlfriends, although he won’t say which one was the most important.

Knowing that they could be drafted soon, John and a close friend enlisted in the Naval Reserve. That required 2 years of service, and they wanted the opportunity to chose whether or not to re-enlist. John’s father had served four years in the Navy.

John’s first duty station was aboard the USS Pueblo. He was only 20 years old. Little did he know that he would celebrate his 21st birthday in North Korea as a Prisoner of War.

The Pueblo was tasked with a signals intelligence mission off the coast of North Korea in early January, 1968. North Korea claimed a fifty-mile limit for its territorial waters, but the international recognition was twelve miles. Commander Lloyd Bucher stationed the ship at thirteen miles. After being observed and harassed by North Korean sub chasers, trawlers, and torpedo boats, on January 23rd, a sub chaser sprayed the Pueblo with 57 mm machine gun fire. One sailor was killed. The Pueblo was boarded, the crew was blindfolded and placed on deck. The loss of the Pueblo was the first capture of a US Navy vessel on the high seas since the War of 1812.

Removed from the Pueblo, the ship’s crew was transported by bus and train to Pyongyang and later transferred between prisoner camps. The crew was beaten, starved, and tortured by their captors. John’s body and mind were severely injured and he came back a different person than when he left. Under the very real threat of the execution of his men, Commander Bucher and other Pueblo officers consented to write and sign “confessions” that they were spies.

In order to secure the release of Bucher and his crew, the United States, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, ultimately agreed to apologize for violating North Korean territory, admit that the ship was spying, and assure the North Koreans that it would not spy in the future.

On December 23rd, eleven months after their capture, the Pueblo’s crew was freed and crossed into South Korea. Immediately following their safe return, the United States fully retracted its statement of apology, admission, and assurance.

Although it is still in possession of the North Koreans in Pyongyang, the Pueblo remains a commissioned warship of the US Navy.

John was stationed in San Diego after his release, and he met his first wife there while she was attending San Diego State University. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, John returned to a roving construction job with PG&E in Dixon. After his job took him to Cupertino they got married. In 1970, they moved to Eureka, where he continued to work with PG&E. Eventually they purchased 5 acres of land in Kneeland and John designed and built the family home there. Their marriage ended after 29 years.

John and Chansouk

John was medically retired from PG&E at age 49. Suddenly having lots of free time, he and his youngest son and a friend went on a journey through Laos where his whole life changed. There he fell in love with both the country and his current wife, Chansouk. She was only 22 at the time, and he likens their relationship to “Bogey and Bacall.” They have spent the last 26 years joyfully living between both Kneeland and Laos, as well as traveling to other countries. They’ve been around the world together.

John and Chansouk still have many adventures ahead. For example, John will be leaving on a trip in two days with his sons Tyler and Josh, traveling by train to Chicago!

We appreciate the dedication and service of men and women like John, who through the years have given sacrificially of themselves to our country and our community.