Don S. Mathews, Lt. Col., Army National Guard, WW II, Korea

1st Lt. Don S. Mathews as a member of the 117th Field Artillery Regiment, Andalusia, Alabama. [Photo: John Vick]

There is a bronze plaque located in the historic German city of Mannheim, Germany, which reads: “From this building on March 28-29, 1945, American Forces under the command of Major Don. S. Mathews conducted telephone conversations with City Official, Nikolaus Quintus in the administrative building of the electric, gas, and water works in K-5. He was assisted by Captain Franz S. Steinitz, U.S. Battalion Surgeon, who served as interpreter. These talks led to the peaceful turnover of the city of Mannheim to U.S. forces on Thursday, March 29, 1945. The prudent actions of those involved helped to prevent further destruction of the city.”

During the whole of WW II, not many U.S. soldiers were so remembered by an enemy that they had fought to destroy. Don Mathews was an American soldier who fought for his country but spent much of his life helping to establish peace.

Don Snowden Mathews was born in Andalusia, Alabama, on December 12, 1908. His parents were Pearl Maxwell and Charles Blackmon Mathews. The Mathews family would have three sons and two daughters. Don attended Andalusia schools and was active in sports and was an avid golfer. He graduated from Andalusia High School in 1926.

In June 1928, Don married Mary Elizabeth Benson of Andalusia.  They made their home in Andalusia and Don went to work in his father-in-law’s hardware business. Mr. O.L. Benson, owned Benson Hardware which included a lumber mill, a brickyard and a foundry. 

Don established several businesses of his own, including a furniture and appliance business, a Hudson automobile dealership as well as a dealership for Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles.

Draft card for Don S. Mathews. [Photo: ancestry.com]

Andalusia was home to an Alabama National Guard unit, the Headquarters Battery, 1^st Battalion, 117^th Field Artillery Regiment. Don joined the local guard unit in 1927, reportedly because the unit had horses and a polo field. The 117^th had originally been a cavalry regiment but was converted into horse-drawn artillery when war was declared in 1917. On August 1, 1933, the 117th was converted from horse-drawn artillery to motorized artillery with the 105mm howitzer. By 1932, Don had been promoted to 2^nd Lieutenant and by 1940, he was a Captain, commanding the local guard unit.

In November 1940, Don was forced to liquidate his businesses when the 117^th Field Artillery Regiment was activated. The Andalusia guard unit was a part of the 31^st Infantry Division, known as the Dixie Division because it was mostly composed of National Guard units from Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The 117^th departed Andalusia in a convoy in December, bound for Camp Blanding, Florida. It was said that the whole town turned out to say goodbye. Their commanding officer, Captain Don Mathews, was in the lead vehicle. His 10-year-old son, Charles, rode along in a truck carrying enlisted men.

Charles returned to Andalusia for school while the 117^th trained at Camp Blanding. After school was out in the summer of 1941, Don rented a home for his family in St. Augustine, about 50 miles from the camp. Don’s best friend was Dr. Lester C. O’Neal, a local physician and surgeon from Andalusia. Dr. O’Neal had also joined the 117^th and was the battalion surgeon. The O’Neal family also rented a place in St. Augustine. The Mathews family and the O’Neal family visited often during the summer of 1941.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 117^th was sent to Camp Bowie, Texas, where they transitioned to the 155mm howitzer. Don’s unit was sent to Camp Barkley, Texas, then on to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, on August 1, 1942. At Camp Gruber, the unit was re-designated the 933^rd Field Artillery Battalion [FAB]. Don was promoted to Major in January 1943. His wife and son followed him to Camp Gruber which was near Muscogee. Charles attended Muscogee Junior High School in the seventh grade while they were there.

Don attended the Army Command and Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, just prior to being deployed overseas. In August 1943, the 933^rd departed for the European Theater. The battalion landed in Algeria in September 1943, along with their new 155mm howitzers. Don was the new Operations and Training Officer [S-3] for the 933^rd FAB.

Major Don S. Mathews, North Africa photo, 1943. [Photo: Charles Mathews]

The 933^rd trained for five weeks before traveling to Tunisia where they trained for another five weeks. In November 1943, the 933^rd was deployed to Naples, Italy. After arriving in Naples, Don Mathews learned that his friend, Dr. [Major] Lester C. O’Neal, has been killed on November 7, near the town of Riardo, north of Naples.

General Mark Clark’s Fifth Army had been stalled in the area surrounding Monte Casino, some 67 miles north of Naples. The 933^rd provided artillery support during the Monte Casino campaign from January through May 1944. In January 1944, the 933^rd was assigned to provide artillery support to a French Expeditionary Force [FEC] which had joined the Fifth Army and moved into the area in Italy. The FEC was mostly a colonial army of African troops led by French

Officers. The 933^rd and Major Mathews were awarded two French Croix-de-Guerre citations for their work with the French Army.

Major Don. S. Mathews was also awarded the Legion of Merit for “exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in Italy from December, 2, 1943 to July 25, 1944.” The Legion of Merit is one of only two military awards to be worn around the neck, the other being the Medal of Honor.

In September 1944, the 933^rd was deployed to southern France. They were assigned to French First Army Control and supported the French II Corps under the command of General Monsabert. In February 1945, the 933^rd was heavily involved in supporting the “attack to eliminate the Vosges-Colmar pocket,” [Major Mathews’ words]. The Battle of the Vosges Mountains was for control of the Alsatian plains that led to the conquest of Strasbourg, which led to the eventual crossing of the Rhine River into Germany.

On March 22, 1945, elements of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army crossed the Rhine River into Germany near Oppenheim. About a week later, Major Don Mathews and the 933^rd Field Artillery Battalion [FAB] found themselves at the Rhine, near the city of Mannheim. The 933^rd was under the operational control of the 44^th Infantry Division which was attacking the city. The city had already been shelled because of the resistance of German Wehrmacht forces still there.

The civilian population had wanted to surrender, but the Wehrmacht had executed several civilians who raised white surrender flags. The shelling started fires on the night of March 28, and the Wehrmacht was forced to flee. After they were gone, Nikolas Quintus, a city official in Mannheim [the mayor had already fled the city], made telephone contact with Major Don Mathews. The 933^rd FAB Command Post and Fire Direction Center had set up operations in the Kafertal Waterworks in the northern part of the city. Major Mathews relied upon Captain Franz Steinitz MD, the battalion medical officer, to translate. The negotiations continued through the night of the 28^th and into the morning of the 29^th.

After consulting with the 44^th Division commanding general, Major Mathews relayed surrender terms to the Mannheim city officials. The 44^th artillery had continued its block-by-block attack on the city overnight. To prevent further destruction, Quintus accepted the surrender terms late in the morning of the 29^th. The formal surrender took place when city officials crossed the river and brought flowers to the American soldiers on the other side.

The incident was the first ever telephone negotiation of a surrender. It was sensational enough that the BBC announced the surrender shortly after it happened. A bronze plaque would later be placed on the Kafertal Waterworks building, commemorating the peaceful turnover of the city. The plaque was quoted in Part 1 published in the August 26^th Andalusia Star-News.

Some nine months after the surrender of Mannheim, a staff car carrying Lt. General George S. Patton was involved in a car crash in the Kafertal suburb of Mannheim. The general died as a result of the crash on December 21, 1945.

The month of April 1945 was the last full month of combat for Major Don Mathews and the 933^rd FAB. He arrived back in the States on September 20, 1945, and was separated from the Army on March 4,1946. After four months back home in Andalusia, Mathews was offered a chance to join the regular Army with the rank of Major. He accepted and was ordered to active duty on July 5, 1946, and sent to the Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The family moved to Oklahoma and Charles enrolled in school at Lawton High School. In May 1948, Charles graduated from high school and enrolled at Alabama Polytechnic Institute [now Auburn University]. About the same time, Don received new orders.

Mathews was assigned as a United Nations Observer to the Middle East during the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948. The conflict arose when the British ended their Mandate for Palestine on May 14, 1948. At the same time, the Israeli Declaration of Independence was issued and a coalition of Arab states invaded the territory the following day.

The United Nations sent Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte to mediate a peace. On September 17, Major Mathews was in a motorcade in Jerusalem carrying Bernadotte to a meeting when the Jewish underground organization, LEHI, attacked and killed the Count. Mathews was riding in the car directly behind the Count’s but was not injured.

After he returned from the Middle East in 1949, Mathews was assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia. A year later, he was given orders to Japan and promoted to Lt. Colonel. He was assigned to the 3^rd Infantry Division and alerted for a move to Korea.

Mathews served in Korea with the 3^rd Infantry Division and took part in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir that took place November-December 1950. After some 30,000 U.N. forces were surrounded by a much larger Chinese Communist force, the U.N. forces were evacuated from the port of Hungnam. Mathews was part of the evacuation.

In February 1951, Mathews was part of the U.N. force that had pushed north to reach the South Korean capital of Seoul. During that operation, Mathews suffered a ruptured appendix on the battlefield and had to be evacuated to a hospital in Japan.

In March 1951, was given a new assignment in Tokyo, Japan. After his wife joined him in Japan, Mathews was assigned to Okinawa. He would spend two years there before being sent to Chickasha, Oklahoma, as an advisor to the Oklahoma National Guard. While they were there, their son Charles was sent to nearby Enid, Oklahoma, for advanced multi-engine aircraft training. Charles received his wings in October 1953.

Mathews was again assigned as a U.N. observer during the Arab-Israeli War of 1956. On one occasion, his Jeep was hit, destroying a footlocker in the rear of the Jeep. Mathews remarked that this was his most dangerous assignment because “Both sides would shoot at you for sport.” In 1957, Mathews was assigned to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, again.

Lt. Col. Don S. Mathews, postwar photo. [Photo: Charles Mathews]

In the summer of 1958, Mathews underwent kidney surgery at the Maxwell Air Force Base hospital in Montgomery, Alabama. The operation was scheduled as exploratory but was complicated when the hospital suffered a power failure during the operation. Out of precaution, the doctors went ahead and removed the kidney. Mathews lived with one kidney the rest of his life.

Mathews was still at Fort Sill in late 1959 when he received orders to France. He was assigned to be the U.S. Army’s liaison to the French Ecole de Cavalerie at Saumur, France. The school was originally established to train French Cavalry but had transitioned to train troops of the mechanized Armored Cavalry. Lt. Col. Mathews would complete his military service there and retire in January 1962.

1st Lt. Don Mathews and his wife Mary, sometime prior to WW II. [Photo: Charles Mathews]

Mathews and his wife returned to Andalusia, Alabama, and he went to work with his brother-in-law, Ed Reid, as an insurance adjuster. Ed Reid was a prominent local attorney and owned an independent insurance adjusting business. Don Mathews later bought the business and named the new company, Reid and Mathews Independent Insurance Adjusters.

Don Mathews’ son, Major Charles B. Mathews, was an Air Force pilot and stationed at nearby Eglin Air Force Base during this time. Charles accepted a NATO position in Brussels, Belgium in 1983. When he returned to Eglin AFB in 1987, Don and Mary moved to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to be near him. Mary died not long after the move and Don remained at the Westwood Retirement Home.

Lt. Col. Don Snowden Mathews died on March 2, 1993. His funeral was held at Foreman Funeral Home Chapel in Andalusia, Alabama, on March 4. Burial followed at Andalusia Memorial Cemetery, with full military honors. He was survived by a brother, Byron [Georgia] Mathews; a son, Charles B. [Lynne] Mathews; a grandson, Charles B. [Carla] Mathews Jr.; a granddaughter, Mary Celeste [French] Brown; and four great-grandchildren.

John Vick

Information on Don Mathews was furnished to the author by his son, Charles B. Mathews in 2019. Charles Mathews died in October 2021. Further information was obtained from John D. Morrison’s five volume, “Detailed Combat History of the 933^rd Field Artillery Battalion in World War II.”

1st Lt. Don Mathews and his wife Mary, sometime prior to WW II.

[Photo: Charles Mathews]