After 32 years as a U.S. Marine,...

After 32 years as a U.S. Marine, Col. Robert G. Mitchell, 51, had a few parting comments as he packed for his new home in Alameda following retirement from his final command at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin. The holder of a Navy Cross in Vietnam and a former personal helicopter pilot for President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1968, Mitchell said he leaves with a good feeling, although he was pained by his experience as a Marine recruiter during the Vietnam era, when his recruitment area included UC Berkeley. “That was a trying time,” he said, “but I’ve had some good times and some bad times.” Times have changed, he said, adding that “President Reagan’s waving of the flag has made a major difference in the way people feel. People in the service today are smart, eager and filled with an esprit de corps . I think the country is in good hands.”