MATHIES, ARCHIBALD - Medal of Honor Recipient
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U .S. Army Air Corps, 510th Bomber
Squadron, 351st Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Europe, 20 February
1944. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: 3 June 1918, Scotland.
G.O. No.: 52, 22 June 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the
enemy in connection with a bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe on
20 February 1944. The aircraft on which Sgt. Mathies was serving as engineer
and ball turret gunner was attacked by a squadron of enemy fighters with
the result that the copilot was killed outright, the pilot wounded and
rendered unconscious, the radio operator wounded and the plane severely
damaged. Nevertheless, Sgt. Mathies and other members of the crew managed
to right the plane and fly it back to their home station, where they contacted
the control tower and reported the situation. Sgt. Mathies and the navigator
volunteered to attempt to land the plane. Other members of the crew were
ordered to jump, leaving Sgt. Mathies and the navigator aboard. After observing
the distressed aircraft from another plane, Sgt. Mathies' commanding officer
decided the damaged plane could not be landed by the inexperienced crew
and ordered them to abandon it and parachute to safety. Demonstrating unsurpassed
courage and heroism, Sgt. Mathies and the navigator replied that the pilot
was still alive but could not be moved and they would not desert him. They
were then told to attempt a landing. After two unsuccessful efforts, the
plane crashed into an open field in a third attempt to land. Sgt. Mathies,
the navigator, and the wounded pilot were killed.
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