This Deceased Army Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Deceased profile please click
HERE
Contact Info
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.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Rhineland Campaign (1944-45)/Siege of Bastogne
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
January / 1945
Description The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbour at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the Ardennes mountain range converged on the small town of Bastogne, control of its crossroads was vital to the German attack. The siege lasted from December 20–27 when the besieged American forces were relieved by elements of General George Patton's Third Army.
Initial combat at Noville[edit]
On 19–20 December, the 1st Battalion of the 506th PIR was ordered to support Team Desobry (Maj. William R. Desobry), a battalion-sized tank-infantry task force of the 10th Armored Division assigned to defend Noville[7] located north-northeast of both Foy and of Bastogne just 4.36 mi (7.02 km) away. With just four M18 tank destroyers of the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion to assist, the paratroopers attacked units of the 2. Panzerdivision, whose mission was to proceed by secondary roads via Monaville (just northwest of Bastogne) to seize a key highway and capture, among other objectives, fuel dumps — for the lack of which the overall German counter-offensive faltered and failed. Worried about the threat to its left flank in Bastogne, it organized a major combined arms attack to seize Noville. Team Desobry's high speed highway journey to reach the blocking position is one of the few documented cases wherein the legendary top speed of the M18 Hellcat (55 mph (89 km/h)) was actually used to get ahead of an enemy force as envisioned by its specifications.
The attack of 1st Battalion and the M18 Hellcat tank destroyers of the 705th TD Battalion together destroyed at least 30 German tanks and inflicted 500-1,000 casualties on the attacking forces in what amounted to a spoiling attack.[citation needed] A Military Channel expert historian[who?] credited the M18 tank destroyers with 24 kills, including several Tiger tanks, and believes that, in part, their ability to "shoot and scoot" at high speed and then reappear elsewhere on the battlefield and therefore appear to be another vehicle entirely played a large part in confusing and slowing the German attack, which subsequently stalled, leaving the Americans in possession of the town overnight. The 3rd Battalion was ordered forward from a reserve position north of Bastogne to ease the pressure on 1st Battalion by occupying a supporting position in Foy to the south.
The heavy losses inflicted by the tank-destroyers induced the German commander into believing the village was being held by a much stronger force[7] and he recoiled from further attacks on the village, committing a strategic error while seeking tactical advantage — significantly delaying the German advance and setting the stage for the Siege of Bastogne just to the south. This delay also gave the 101st Airborne Division enough time to organize defenses around Bastogne. After two days, the 2nd Panzer Division finally continued on its original mission to the Meuse River. As a consequence of its involvement at Bastogne, and its failure to dislodge the airborne forces, the column ultimately ran out of fuel at Celles, where it was destroyed by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division and the British 29th Armoured Brigade.
By the time the 1st Battalion pulled out of Noville on the 20th, the village of Foy half-way to Bastogne center had been captured from the 3rd Battalion by a separate attack, forcing the 1st Battalion to then fight its way through Foy. By the time 1st Battalion made it to the safety of American lines, it had lost 13 officers and 199 enlisted men, out of about 600 troops, and was assigned as the division reserve. Team Desobry lost a quarter of its troops and was reduced to just four medium tanks when it passed through the lines of 3rd Battalion.
Battle
19–23 December 1944
The 101st Airborne formed an all-round perimeter using the 502nd PIR on the northwest shoulder to block the 26th Volksgrenadier, the 506th PIR to block entry from Noville, the 501st PIR defending the eastern approach, and the 327th GIR scattered from Marvie in the southeast to Champs in the west along the southern perimeter, augmented by engineer and artillery units plugging gaps in the line. The division service area to the west of Bastogne had been raided the first night, causing the loss of almost its entire medical company, and numerous service troops were used as infantry to reinforce the thin lines. CCB of the 10th Armored Division, severely weakened by losses to its Team Desobry (Maj. William R. Desobry), Team Cherry (Lt. Col. Henry T. Cherry), and Team O'Hara (Lt. Col. James O'Hara) in delaying the Germans, formed a mobile "fire brigade" of 40 light and medium tanks (including survivors of CCR 9th Armored Division and eight replacement tanks found unassigned in Bastogne).
Three artillery battalions were commandeered and formed a temporary artillery group. Each had twelve 155 mm (6.1 in) howitzers, providing the division with heavy firepower in all directions restricted only by its limited ammunition supply. Col. Roberts, commanding CCB, also rounded up 600+ stragglers from the rout of VIII Corps and formed Team SNAFU as a further stopgap force.
As a result of the powerful American defense to the north and east, XLVII Panzer Corps commander Gen. von Lüttwitz decided to encircle Bastogne and strike from the south and southwest, beginning the night of 20/21 December. German panzer reconnaissance units had initial success, nearly overrunning the American artillery positions southwest of Bastogne before being stopped by a makeshift force. All seven highways leading to Bastogne were cut by German forces by noon of 21 December, and by nightfall the conglomeration of airborne and armored infantry forces were recognized by both sides as being surrounded.
The American soldiers were outnumbered approximately 5-1 and were lacking in cold-weather gear, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and senior leadership (as many senior officers, including the 101st's commander—Major General Maxwell Taylor—were elsewhere). Due to the worst winter weather in memory, the surrounded U.S. forces could not be resupplied by air nor was tactical air support available due to cloudy weather.
However, the two panzer divisions of the XLVII Panzer Corps—after using their mobility to isolate Bastogne, continued their mission towards the Meuse on 22 December, rather than attacking Bastogne with a single large force. They left just one regiment behind to assist the 26th Volksgrenadier Division in capturing the crossroads. The XLVII Panzer Corps probed different points of the southern and western defensive perimeter in echelon, where Bastogne was defended by just a single airborne regiment and support units doubling as infantry. This played into the American advantage of interior lines of communication; the defenders were able to shift artillery fire and move their limited ad hoc armored forces to meet each successive assault.
The 26th VG received one panzergrenadier regiment from the 15th Panzergrenadier Division on Christmas Eve for its main assault the next day. Because it lacked sufficient troops and those of the 26th VG Division were near exhaustion, the XLVII Panzer Corps concentrated its assault on several individual locations on the west side of perimeter in sequence rather than launching one simultaneous attack on all sides. The assault—led by 18 tanks carrying a battalion of infantry—pierced the lines of the 327th's 3rd Battalion (officially, the 1st Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry), and advanced as far as the battalion command post at Hemroulle.
However, the 327th held its original positions and repulsed infantry assaults that followed, capturing 92 Germans. The panzers that had achieved the penetration divided into two columns, one trying to reach Champs from the rear, and were destroyed in detail by two companies of the 1st Battalion 502nd PIR under Lt. Col. Patrick F. Cassidy and four tank destroyers of the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion.
Allied control of Bastogne was a major obstacle to the German armored advance, and the morale of Allied forces elsewhere on the Western Front was boosted by news of the stubborn defense of the besieged town.
