Ride to the Sound of the Guns: The Life of a Cold War Warrior

WRITTEN BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL (RETIRED) DR. TED MATAXIS JR., FILMED AND EDITED BY R. CARSON MATAXIS.

Brigadier General (Ret.)
​Theodore Christopher Mataxis Sr. (Ted)


​Brigadier General (Ret.) Theodore Christopher Mataxis Sr. (Ted) was born on August 17, 1917. Having been born the same year that America entered the Great War, some would claim that Ted was destined for an illustrious military career. Brigadier General Mataxis was born into war, and he would remain in a war zone well into his seventies. He would serve for over 50 years, including three wars. Later in life, during speaking engagements, he would open with, “I am a U.S. Army retired Brigadier General. I served for 32 years (1940 until 1972), commanding infantry troops in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.” What he leaves out of this description is almost as important as what he includes: BG Mataxis would spend over 15 years in active combat zones throughout the world; he would continue his extensive MAAG duties in Iran and Cambodia; and he was one of only 325 Americans to earn three Combat Infantryman’s Badges for his combat service in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Even after retirement, BG Mataxis would go on to serve as a consultant to the Minister of Defense in Singapore, and he would become the Commandant of Cadets at Valley Forge Military Academy. His career began as a young private and would end with this old war horse gallivanting around the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, advising the Afghanistan Freedom Fighters in their efforts to defeat the Russians. He would make at least seven trips throughout his 60s and 70s to Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Once Mataxis stopped actively chasing down wars to fight in his mid-seventies, he settled into a professorship with American Military University to help others “younger than he” defending the United States against enemies, both foreign and domestic.
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Welcome
​to OUR website

The purpose of this website is to ​get the word out that I am writing my dad’s book. When my father passed, he left me his files (consisting of 75 Xerox boxes of records that took two years to organize), his library, and his gun collection.

While sorting his papers, I felt compelled to write his story. He never took the time to write his story because he remained engaged in ongoing activities, but it is a story that needs to be told.

He grew up as a first-generation American who loved America because he saw the opportunities it had provided for his immigrant parents, and he was eternally grateful. I regret that he did not write his own story. He did pick the title and drafted the concept of the book - Ride to the Sound of the Guns. My father and I combined for 55 years of active service in the U.S. Army. Ted III is still serving in the Active Reserves, so that legacy of service continues. 
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80th Anniversary of the liberation Oeting, France, 2025
All three of us were non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the U.S. Army Reserves  / National Guard prior to being commissioned. We were all ROTC Commissioned: University of Washington in 1940, University of Georgia in 1968, and Duke  University in 2004. We went to Jump School at Ft. Benning, GA: 1957, 1963 and 2000, and became Master Parachutists. We are proud to have served with the 101st Airborne / Airmobile Division in Combat: 1965-66 Vietnam, 1969-70 Vietnam, and 2011 Afghanistan. My grandfather on my mother’s side was a NCO in WWI. The Mataxis men have participated in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, El Salvador, Iraq and Afghanistan. 

About the Book
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​My father was a career combat soldier who had the opportunity to “Ride to the Sounds of the Guns” in service to our country.

He was the perennial volunteer and lived through a very interesting time in the history of our nation. He enlisted in the Washington National Guard when the war broke out in Europe in the fall of 1939 and was commissioned through the University of Washington ROTC in June of 1940.

A mere 3.5 years later at the age he of 25, he was a Battalion Commander in brutal combat with the 2nd Battalion, 276th Infantry Regiment of the 70th Infantry Division “Trail Blazers” during the last German offensive during the winter of 1944. In the spring of 1945, in the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France, he participated in the breakthrough of the Siegfried Line and in the subsequent pursuit into Bavaria. He had volunteered to go to the Pacific for the invasion of Japan and was enroute there, when the atomic bombs were dropped and the war ended. He then returned for “Occupational Duty” in Berlin and then Southern Germany.
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First draft of the book cover, showing ​Brig. General (Ret.) Theodore C. Mataxis in action from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
In June of 1950 accompanied by his family, he attended the Indian Army Staff College. He was separated from his family for a year while serving in Kashmir with the United Nation Peacekeeping Mission. He then volunteered for the Korean war where he commanded a Regiment at the age of 36 during the bitter campaigns of Triangle, T-Bone, and Pork Chop Hills. This was followed by an early tour in Vietnam as Senior Advisor to the ARVIN Commanding General of II Corps for 16 months that heralded the escalation of the fighting by the introduction of the regiments of the North Vietnamese regular army. Upon the arrival of American troops in February 1966, he became the Deputy Commander of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division. After serving in Iran 1968-70, with his family, he volunteered to go directly to Vietnam for a second tour in 1970. He served as Assistant Division Commander during August and September and as Acting Division Commander at age 51. In February of 1971 with one day’s notice, he was assigned as Chief of the Military Equipment Deployment Team for Cambodia (MEDT-C). MEDT-C was a unique organization, divided into two echelons: a rear echelon in Saigon and a forward echelon in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He retired directly from there in 1972.

During the time the Russians were fighting in Afghanistan, he became the field representative/coordinator for A Committee for a Free Afghanistan. He visited Afghanistan & Pakistan for periods of 2-3 months until the Russians withdrew. At age 72, he made his last trip behind the lines with the Mujahedeen. He was known as “The Old American General who brought them Stinger Missiles.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LIEUTENANT COLONEL (RETIRED) DR. TED MATAXIS JR.

LTC (R) Mataxis joined the Army Reserve Special Forces as a Private while still in high school on 20 OCT 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served in the Reserves until 1968 completing airborne, sniper and Special Forces training. He was commissioned into the Infantry in 1969 and served as a Platoon Leader in Company A, 1-504, 82d ABN.
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He immediately volunteered for Vietnam, where he extended multiple times from 1969-1972. His first tour and extension was with the Rakkassan 3-187 of the 101st ABN DIV where he was a Platoon Leader, S-5 (Civil Affairs/Psy Ops) and Company D Commander. ​
His next extension was as Adviser to the ARVIN ABN DIV with the 8th Battalion during Lam Son 719. LTC Mataxis then extended and took command of G Ranger Company of the 23rd Division. After that he was assigned to the ARVIN Border Ranger Battalion as an adviser at Plei Kleng and Plei Me.
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Upon return to the US, he was assigned as an A Team Detachment Commander and then Operations officer in A Co, 3 Bn, 5th SFG. Following this assignment, he was assigned to Ft. Benning as an Instructor and later the Operations Officer at the Ranger Department. He then returned to Ft. Bragg to the Foreign Area Officers Course as an Iranian FAO. Next came his assignment to 1st Battalion 18th Infantry for Company Command and then Chief of Current Operations for 1st ID.

In 1982, Mataxis returned to Ft. Bragg and was assigned to the newly formed Joint Special Operations Command. He served as the Chief of the Exercise and Evaluation Branch for five years. He was selected as XO, then DCO to the 7th SFG.
From June 1988 till June 1989, LTC Mataxis served in a high threat insurgency environment as the Chief, Operations Planning Assistance and Training Teams (OPATT) and the National Civil Defense Coordinator to the Armed Forces of El Salvador. Upon returning to the States, he was the Activation Cell Chief for the 3rd SFG, then moved to be the Chief, Plans and Operation Division of the recently formed USASOC. Mataxis then returned as XO and then DCO of the 3rd SFG until his retirement in June 1993.

LTC Mataxis' military education includes: Infantry basic & advanced courses, Airborne, Ranger, SF, Pathfinder, SERE, Sniper, Advanced Demolitions, CSSP, USAF Ground Operations, Internal Defense and Development Course, Foreign Area Officers Course, TRADEP, USAF Special Operation Africa Orientation, DLI Farsi and Spanish, CGSC and Armed Forces Staff College.

LTC Mataxis' awards include the CIB, LOM, Bronze Star Valor (3 OLC), Defense Meritorious Service, Meritorious Service (3 OLC), Air Medal (6 OLC), Joint Service Commendation, Army Commendation Valor (3 OLC), Joint Service, Army Achievement, Vietnamese: Cross of Gallantry for Valor with Bronze Star, Honor Medal, Staff Service Medal, Civic Action Medal and Ranger Combat Badge.

​His civilian education includes: AA from Gordon Military College, BS in Ed. from the University of Georgia, MS in Educational Leadership from Georgia State University, MS in Counseling & Education Specialist Degree in Curriculum from Campbell University, and Doctorate in Education Leadership from NOVA University.
After his retirement he worked for Moore County Schools for the next 20 years as: Assistant Principal, Principal, and Director of Career and Technical Programs. He is currently working on a book.

Just Making It Through: An Army Officer's Multiple Tours in Vietnam, 1969-1972
(CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE)

Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Ted Mataxis Jr. served in Vietnam from late 1969 to early 1972. He served with US Army reconnaissance units, ARVN airborne, ARVN border rangers, and Montagnards, among other forces. In early 1971, he participated in Lam Son 719 where most of the ARVN forces he advised were killed or wounded. He shares memories from his time of service. Click here to view this interview on YouTube.