Bruce Matheson, 87, member of famed WWII unit (Black Sheep Squadron)

Honolulu Advertiser | February 1, 2009 | William Cole

[Zakeet]

Another hero has gone to a better place.

Retired Marine Brig. Gen. Bruce J. Matheson (standing seventh from the right) died Thursday of lung cancer and a heart attack.

A member of the famed Black Sheep Squadron in World War II, Gen. Matheson flew a F3D Skyknight in Korea, and had about 400 missions flying Huey's in Vietnam.

Gen. Matheson received three Legions of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, more than 30 Air Medals and a Purple Heart.

The original article ran in the Honolulu Advertiser which we cannot even excerpt. However, you can read the obituary HERE.

[Zakeet]

Only 10 of the 51 members of the Black Sheep Squadron are still alive.

[DieHard the Hunter]

One by one the Greatest Generation are leaving us. Are we worthy of our inheritence that they secured for us? Or will we squander it? Or allow it to dry up and blow away from deglect?

RIP Bruce Matheson and thankyou: you did your best and you played your part. The rest is up to us.

[fish hawk]

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds-and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue, 
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew-
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God. 
             Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
             No 412 squadron, RCAF
             Killed 11 December 1941
Rest in peace Sir and know that you made a difference.

[DuncanWaring]

Ping.

[BikerTrash]

The Marines guarding the streets of Heaven now have additional air support.

I stand in awe of this man and all like him. God bless you General Matheson. If you never knew how much you are appreciated, I pray that you know now.

[ExSoldier]

My father in law, is one of them. But that can't be proven, sadly. His records are sealed by one William Casey. He is publicly credited with the Navy Cross, Silver Star, DFC and 41 awards of the air medal -- 18 air to air kills. A triple ace! He also knew Joe Foss personally. But the circumstances of his citations are sealed apparently for activities he undertook AFTER the war. I think the fact that he got a PhD.d in nuclear physics had something to do with that. And the fact that he knew Oppenheimer and Teller personally. I have a pic of him standing on the wing of a plane with Boyington and a few others. Pop is in his mid 80's now. But that old man can go from sweet to lethal in an eye blink. Something I also found rather interesting was that years ago he went to visit the family ancestral home in England and he just casually dropped in to see Stephen Hawking without an appointment. Hawking saw him and they apparently spoke for quite awhile. But that's been about 10 or more years now. Recently I spied the award plaque he got with his Navy Cross and it mentioned he was on patrol with VMF 114(?) "Blacksheep Squadron" and he jumped 40 zero's all by himself, dropping eight in the first ten minutes until the rest of the squadron arrived to finish the job. You know, he gently took that award from my hands and reverently put it away. He said he doesn't like to think about that stuff now. That is the mark of a true warrior and a true hero. The real thing never brags. I'm so proud of him I could bust.

[american_ranger]

Tell him, thanks from me and my sons.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[ExSoldier]

Tell him, thanks from me and my sons.

I do that on behalf of a lot of folks who hear of his valor and he usually just looks at me with a curious glance and says: "For what?" Again, the true hero.... the true patriot never sees his sacrifice as anything unusual.

[ExSoldier]

My bad. VMF 214 not 114.

[ExSoldier]

I'm going to ask pop if he recalls the pic above with the group in front of the F4F being taken. IIRC the pic I have of him with Boyington standing on the wing of such a plane and a few others has much the same background as this shot.

[A.A. Cunningham]

That’s an F4U. The F4F was the Wildcat

[ExSoldier]

My bad. I stand corrected. I was an army infantryman. When it came to enemy aircraft recognition from my own era I had the typical response of the grunt with a stinger (making the zoomies go nuts) of "If it FLIES, it DIES. Shoot 'em ALL down and sort 'em out on the ground." Of course, that never sits too well with our brethren in the USAF. Never could figure why....