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Home Town Seattle
Last Address Carmel,CA
Date of Passing Jan 08, 2005
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Born in Seattle Washington on August 11, 1920, General Matheson graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve in 1942.
He joined the 506th Parachute Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division after graduation. This is the unit made famous by historian Stephen Ambrose in his 1992 novel Band of Brothers. General Matheson participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy, the liberation of Holland, the defense of Bastogne, and the seizure of the Berchtesgarden area.
Following WW II he served in various command and staff positions in the 82nd Airborne Division. During the Korean War, General Matheson was the G-3 Plans Officer of the X Corps and participated in the landings at Inchon and Wonsan, as well as the amphibious withdrawal at Hungnam.
Following a tour of duty with the XVIII Airborne Corps, he was assigned to the US Army Europe as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, for the 1 st Infantry Division. In 195 8 General Matheson was assigned to the 101st Airborne as Deputy Battle Group Commander, and then later as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3.
General Matheson returned to Europe in 1961 as Commander of the 10th Special Forces. After being reassigned to the States, Matheson became Assistant Division Commander of the 101st Airborne Division, and then assumed command of the Ist Brigade of the 101st Airborne division in Vietnam.
Following his tour of duty in Vietnam, General Matheson was put in command of Fort Campbell. Later, the General served in Korea again, as Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division.
Returning to the United States in 1970, he served as Director of the International Staff, International American Defense Board. In 1971 Matheson moved to Fort M0herson and served as Chief of Staff, Third U.S. Army.
Prior to his retirement in 1975 General Matheson commanded the Army Readiness Region IV.
General Matheson, who was one of the first paratroopers dropped during the D-Day invasion, made more than one hundred parachute jumps during his career, and his numerous decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, four Bronze Stars, twelve Air Medals, the Army Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart, Master Parachutist Badge, and third Combat Infantry Badge.
His foreign awards include the Belgian Fourragere, Bronze Lion of the Netherlands, Orange Lanyard of the Netherlands, National Order of Vietnam (5th Class), Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with two palms, Republic of Korea Order of National Security, and Vietnamese Civic Actions Honor Medal.
General Matheson, who passed away on January 8, 2005, resided in Carmel, California in his later years. Like many men of his "greatest generation" General Matheson was a modest man who didn't boast of his achievements during WW II.
Other Comments:
Highly decorated Major General Salve H. Matheson, who participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the seizure of Hitler's Eagle's Nest and later vital operations in Korea and Vietnam, died Saturday at his Carmel home. He was 84.
The heroics and camaraderie of Matheson and the rest of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division were made famous in historian Stephen Ambrose's 1992 novel "Band of Brothers." In 2001, HBO released a miniseries with the same name based on the book.
Matheson amassed a list of military honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, four Bronze Stars, 12 Air Medals, the Army Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart, Master Parachutist Badge and Combat Infantry Badge.Foreign awards include the Bronze Lion and the Orange Lanyard of the Netherlands.
In 1968, Matheson was recognized with the Outstanding Professional Achievement award from UCLA.Molly Matheson said her father was a modest man who didn't boast of his achievements during his Army career."They were remarkable men," Molly Matheson said. "They were regular kind of guys but extraordinary in terms of what they did."
Matheson was born in Seattle on August 11, 1920, and his family moved to the Monterey Peninsula the same year.He attended schools in Monterey and Pacific Grove. After graduating from UCLA, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army. He also attended the Naval War College in Rhode Island.
In World War II, Matheson's units also participated in the liberation of Holland and the defense of Bastogne, Matheson also participated in the surrender of German Lieutenant General Hans Speidel, chief of staff to the "Desert Fox," Gen. Erwin Rommel.He also served in the 1st Infantry Division, 82nd Airborne Division and commanded the 10th Special Forces Group in Europe.
During the Korean War, Matheson was the G-3 Plans Officer, X-Corps, and participated in the Inchon and Wonsan landings and the amphibious withdrawal from Hungnam.In Vietnam he commanded the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division and participated in the Tet Offensive.
Matheson returned to Korea in 1969 and commanded the 2nd Infantry Division on the Korean demilitarized zone.In 1975, Matheson retired at Fort McPherson, Georgia, and returned home to the Monterey Peninsula.He was a member of the International Club of Carmel.
Molly Matheson said her father kept in touch with the soldiers of E Company and attended reunions whenever he could."He loved the men he served with."
He is survived by his wife, Patricia; daughters Catherine Wallace of La Cañada and Molly Matheson of Sebastopol; a son, Michael Matheson of Carmel; and four grandchildren.
The 2nd Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army.It was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France.
The 2nd Infantry Division is a formation of the United States Army. Its current primary mission is the pre-emptive defense of South Korea in the event of an invasion from North Korea. There are approximately 17,000 soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Division, with 10,000 of them stationed in South Korea,accounting for about 35% of the United States Forces Korea personnel.
The 2nd Infantry Division is unique in that it is the only U.S. Army division that is made up partially of South Korean soldiers, called KATUSAs (Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army). This program began in 1950 by agreement with the first South Korean president, Syngman Rhee. Some 27,000 KATUSAs served with the U.S. forces at the end of the Korean War. As of May 2006, approximately 1,100 KATUSA soldiers serve with the 2ID. There were also more than 4,748 Dutch soldiers assigned to the division between 1950 and 1954.
Twice during World War I the division was commanded by US Marine Corps generals, Brigadier GeneralCharles A. Doyen and Major GeneralJohn A. Lejeune (after whom the Marine Corps Camp in North Carolina is named), the only time in U.S. military history when Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division.
He organized and commanded the 5th Marine Regiment in World War I, and in France took command of the 4th Brigade, 2d Division, composed of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion. from 26 October to 8 November 1917, he served as commanding general, 2nd Division (United States), the first Marine officer to command a U.S. Army division. He returned to the United States, dying of influenza during the height of the global pandemic on 6 October 1918 at Quantico, Virginia.The 4th Brigade went on to win a historic victory in Belleau Wood. Brigadier General Doyen's contribution to these victories was recognized by the posthumous award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the first to ever be awarded.
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was named in his honor during World War II. Lejeune is often referred to in the present day as being the "greatest of all Leathernecks" and the "Marine's Marine."
Major General John A. Lejeune, U.S. Marine Corps, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1920-1929)
MOH Recipient(s) Private Frank J. Bart U.S. Army, Company C, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division.
being on duty as a company runner, when the advance was held up by machinegun fire voluntarily picked up an automatic rifle, ran out ahead of the line, and silenced a hostile machinegun nest, killing the German gunners. The advance then continued, and when it was again hindered shortly afterward by another machinegun nest this courageous soldier repeated his bold exploit by putting the second machinegun out of action.
PVT Frank J. Bart
MOH Recipient(s) SFC Junior D. Edwards,U.S. Army, Company E, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
SFC Edwards, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When his platoon, while assisting in the defense of a strategic hill, was forced out of its position and came under vicious raking fire from an enemy machine gun set up on adjacent high ground, SFC Edwards individually charged the hostile emplacement, throwing grenades as he advanced. The enemy withdrew but returned to deliver devastating fire when he had expended his ammunition. Securing a fresh supply of grenades, he again charged the emplacement, neutralized the weapon and killed the crew, but was forced back by hostile small-arms fire. When the enemy emplaced another machine gun and resumed fire, SFC Edwards again renewed his supply of grenades, rushed a third time through a vicious hail of fire, silenced this second gun and annihilated its crew. In this third daring assault he was mortally wounded but his indomitable courage and successful action enabled his platoon to regain and hold the vital strongpoint. SFC Edwards' consummate valor and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the utmost glory upon himself and are in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the Infantry and military service.
SFC Junior D. Edwards
MOH Recipient (s) Corporal Victor H. Espinoza,U.S. Army, Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
For acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an Acting Rifleman in Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division during combat operations against an armed enemy in Chorwon, Korea on 1 August 1952. On that day, Corporal Espinoza and his unit were responsible for securing and holding a vital enemy hill. As the friendly unit neared its objective, it was subjected to a devastating volume of enemy fire, slowing its progress. Corporal Espinoza, unhesitatingly and being fully aware of the hazards involved, left his place of comparative safety and made a deliberate one man assault on the enemy with his rifle and grenades, destroying a machinegun and killing its crew. Corporal Espinoza continued across the fire-swept terrain to an exposed vantage point where he attacked an enemy mortar position and two bunkers with grenades and rifle fire, knocking out the enemy mortar position and destroying both bunkers and killing their occupants. Upon reaching the crest, and after running out of rifle ammunition, he called for more grenades. A comrade who was behind him threw some Chinese grenades to him. Immediately upon catching them, he pulled the pins and hurled them into the occupied trenches, killing and wounding more of the enemy with their own weapons. Continuing on through a tunnel, Corporal Espinoza made a daring charge, inflicting at least seven more casualties upon the enemy who were fast retreating into the tunnel. Corporal Espinoza was quickly in pursuit, but the hostile fire from the opening prevented him from overtaking the retreating enemy. As a result, Corporal Espinoza destroyed the tunnel with TNT, called for more grenades from his company, and hurled them at the enemy troops until they were out of reach. Corporal Espinoza's incredible display of valor secured the vital strong point and took a heavy toll on the enemy, resulting in at least fourteen dead and eleven wounded. Corporal Espinoza's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
