U.S. Army Korean War Montgomery, IL Flight date: 07/11/18
By Roseann Elliott, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interviews Volunteer
Alan John Matson was born on November 23rd, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois to Carl and Gertrude Matson. He grew up in Hyde Park along with his two sisters and one brother. He remembers spending his summers swimming in Lake Michigan and playing softball and football at Hyde Park High School, graduating in 1951. After graduation, he went to Wilson Junior College, but after a year, he decided it was not for him. He then started working for Commonwealth Edison as a draftsman until February, 1953 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
Alan went to Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center in western Arkansas, near the city of Fort Smith, for Boot Camp. During his seven months at Fort Chaffee he attended Radio School, but never could quite grasp Morse Code. He was then assigned to construction training and after Boot Camp went to Fort Lewis near Tacoma WA. He stayed there for two weeks before receiving orders to go to Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. He was assigned to the 42nd Construction Engineers with the task to build a radar site for the Signal Corp.
Alan and the 42nd flew from Tacoma to Tin City, an Air Force Base north of Nome, Alaska. From there they went by eskimo whaling boats to the small village of Wales. While on the way to Wales, the whaling boats got stuck in a sand bar, and they had to carry all their equipment through the water to the village. Alan said the thing he remembers most was not that the air and water temperature was about 45 degrees, but the fact that there were kids swimming.
Alan was at this post for four months and he did it all. He was a carpenter, pipe fitter, electrician and a tinsmith. He remembers one day having to fix a wire connection on a pole when the temperature was minus forty degrees and the winds were blowing at fifty miles per hour. The pole also had about two inches of ice on it. Alan could not work with the warming gloves on, so every few minutes he had to balance himself on the pole to put the gloves back on to warm his hands. Alan has fond memories of going to the eskimo village and playing Chinese Checkers with the locals and never winning. He laughs when he remembers the day when there was an alert that there was something in the water coming from Russia. They all stood on the shore waiting with their guns, only to find out it was a whale.
Once the radar site was completed, Alan went back to Fort Richardson for a year where he was assigned to a motor pool getting equipment ready for inspection, and also drove a jeep for the company sergeant. His other tasks included that of a cement finisher, steamfitter and electrician. As a carpenter, he built a day care center for the kids on the post, and also built tennis courts and bomb shelters. For leisure, just like back in high school, he played baseball for the company team. By December of 1954, he held the rank of Private First Class and by Christmas Eve of that year was headed back home to Fort Sheridan to be processed back to civilian life.
After being discharged from the Army, Alan went back to work for ComEd or so he thought. ComEd split into ComEd and Northern Illinois Gas. Alan worked one day for ComEd and then spent the next 37 ½ years with Northern Illinois Gas, retiring from there in May of 1990. During that time, Alan met Loretta and in 1959, they married and would have four children together, three boys and one girl. Later in life, he met Betty through a mutual friend. In July of 1990, Alan married for the second time, and he added two more boys and a girl to his family.
In May of 1991, Alan and Betty built a home in Englewood, Florida. They loved spending their retirement at the beaches in Venice Florida, but in January of 1994 they decided it was time to come back to Illinois, and built their current home in Montgomery. Alan loved to golf so a job at Stonebridge Country Club was the perfect fit for the next four years. He then spent the next eleven years of retirement working for NAPA Auto Parts. Today, Alan and Betty spend their time watching their granddaughter play softball and their grandson play soccer.
Alan, we are proud to honor you and your service in the U.S. Army. Enjoy your well -deserved Honor Flight.