Ruth Mitchell

Ruth Mitchell (ca. 1889–1969) was a reporter who was the only American woman to serve with the Serbian Chetnik under Draža Mihailović in World War II. She was captured by the Gestapo and spent a year as a prisoner of war, later writing a book about her experiences. She also wrote a book about one of her brothers, General Billy Mitchell, who is regarded as the founder of the U.S. Air Force. Family and education Ruth Mitchell was born 30 April 1889 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daughter of Harriet Danforth (Becker) Mitchell and John Lendrum Mitchell, who a few years later would become a U.S. congressman and senator. Her grandfather was the wealthy banker and railroad tycoon Alexander Mitchell; her grandmother, Martha Reed Mitchell, was well known in charity, art and society circles. She had two sisters and two brothers: William (known as Billy), who became a general, and John, a World War I aviator who died flying over France in 1917. She was educated at Milwaukee-Downer College and then at Vassar College. Mitchell was married three times but always preferred to use her birth name. Her first husband was William Van Ryneveld Van Breda, and with him she had two children: John Lendrum Van Breda (b. 1914) and Ruth Van Breda. John joined the Royal Air Force during World War II and was killed in action in Egypt in May 1941. This marriage was ended by William Van Breda's death.