He suffered a broken arm, broken leg and burns throughout most of the lower half of his body after the Humvee he was in was hit by an explosive device.
Mitchell grew up in Exeter. Shortly after graduating from Exeter High School, he enlisted in the military.
His first tour was in Iraq, his second was in Afghanistan.
The day he was injured, he was less than a month away from coming home and was looking forward to seeing his fiancé and newborn baby girl.
"Feels good. It's been a long time coming, I guess. Had 26 days 'til I was coming home and now I had to wait another 3 months through these injuries, but I'm here and it feels good. Glad to see my family and friends that are here," Mitchell said.
K.C. also had a surprise for his fiancé at the airport Saturday.
They had been engaged before he left, but finally got to ask her to marry him in a "special" way.
And that wasn't the only happy reunion at in the Central Valley Saturday.
Marine Brandon Medellin was also welcomed with big hugs from his family.
This was Brandon's second tour of duty and his first in Afghanistan. He said he was happy to be back home.
"I went to Iraq my first deployment and Afghanistan my second one," Brandon Medellin said. "I would not want to go back to Afghanistan it was the worst place ever."
Brandon's grandma said that she is happy to have him back and looks forward to making him any meal he wants.
