ABOUT THE BOOK

RIDE TO THE SOUND OF THE GUNS
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​Brigadier General (Ret.) ​Theodore Christopher Mataxis Sr. (Ted) 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 en route there, when the atomic bombs were dropped and the war ended. He then returned for “Occupational Duty” in Berlin and then Southern Germany.
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.”

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.

FOREWORD
BY  H.R. McMaster

In Ride to the Sound of the Guns, Brigadier General Theodore Mataxis’ son, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Theodore Mataxis Jr., has written a memoir of his father that not only illuminates an extraordinary career, but also reveals the character of a man who exhibited tremendous courage, intellect, and compassion.  

Brigadier General Mataxis was a prepossessing figure.  He seemed intimidating through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old boy as I arrived at Valley Forge Military Academy and College as a high school freshman in August of 1976.
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Then-national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster
​at the White House in 2017 (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
When I first saw him, he was in his dress greens Army uniform with the stars on his shoulder boards gleaming in the hot summer sun. I thought that this barrel-chested, fit man with a shaved head was a dead ringer for the actor and World War II veteran and son of Greek immigrants, Telly Savalis.  I was an avid consumer of military history and movies and was a fan of many of the World War II movies in which Savalis often played the role of a tough, irascible sergeant, like Sergeant Guffy in the 1965 film The Battle of the Bulge.  I would soon learn that Mataxis’ true exploits across three wars far exceeded any Hollywood heroics.
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Mataxis’ record surpasses fictional stories in literature as well as film.  His career and character resonate with Anton Myrer’s portrayal of Sam Damon, the strong, principled, and dedicated soldier in the novel Once an Eagle.  Mataxis commanded a battalion in combat in World War II at the age of twenty-six and a regiment in the Korean War at the age of thirty-six. He served for four years in Vietnam and Cambodia.

I had the privilege of getting to know General Mataxis well during my high school years at Valley Forge and we stayed in contact after I departed for the United States Military Academy at West Point.  We corresponded across most of my subsequent career in our Army.  His intimidating countenance belied a deep concern for the young cadets of Valley Forge, and I remember fondly our many conversations over those years, even those which followed adolescent indiscretions on my part.  Mataxis emphasized the tenets of leadership in our Army.  He told us that Army leaders must always put mission accomplishment and the survival and well-being of those they lead before their own well-being.  He described how he fostered trust, confidence, and cohesion among soldiers as the key ingredients for courage in battle.  Trust, confidence, and cohesion, he told us, form psychological and emotional bulwarks against fear and inspire soldiers to act in ways contrary to the natural preoccupation with self-preservation.  I remember him saying that good Army teams take on the quality of a family in which the teammates’ sense of honor make them more afraid of letting one another down than they are of the enemy’s bullets.  All of this rang true to me as I prepared soldiers for and led them in battle years later.

Mataxis had witnessed many changes in the Army across three wars, but he was a source of one of the greatest continuities in the profession of arms: the priority of developing the next generations of leaders. I grew to admire greatly that tough, empathetic general.  He showed me that the United States Army is a living historical community in which younger generations look to earlier generations for inspiration and to understand better their calling as soldiers.  
Mataxis had a profound influence on me and other future leaders through his example and his mentorship.  I soon realized that behind our Commandant’s rugged countenance was a person who always treated everyone with respect.   I later understood that Mataxis was also an intellectual, an author, an avid reader, and collector of books.  Across my career he sent me the books from his library that he thought were most relevant to my new responsibilities.  When I decided to write a doctoral dissertation on how and why Vietnam became an American war, I asked to see General Mataxis for advice.  In a letter to him in February of 1997 just prior to the publication of that work as a book, I wrote to him: “I often think of you as the book nears publication. It all really began for me with an interview I did with you in the Carolina Inn.”

I was fortunate to be with him and his wife, Helma, in the last years of his life when he attended the ceremony in which I assumed command as 71st Colonel of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment.  He whispered words of encouragement and expressed confidence in me as our regiment was preparing for a second combat mission in Iraq. I told him that I would do my best to live up to his example.

I hope that many young people read this memoir of a great soldier, father, and citizen so that General Mataxis can continue to inspire future generations through his example.  Readers will, no doubt, note the contrast between Mataxis’ embrace of danger – he received a Silver Star, three Bronze stars with “V” devices for valor, and two Purple Hearts -  with the ‘safetyism’ that pervades much of American society.  On battlefields there are no safe spaces to which one can retreat and the riskiest course of action is the one that, in seeking the safest course, cedes initiative to the enemy.  Young Americans may also draw inspiration from the patriotism of a man whose father arrived, penniless, at Ellis Island from Greece in 1907.  The Mataxis family story might help young people challenge the orthodoxy of self-loathing to which so many Americans are subjected in universities and secondary schools.  All who read these pages will understand better the rewards of service across lives well-lived. Even after his retirement when the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s, Mataxis went to his fourth war as the field director for the Committee for a Free Afghanistan in Peshawar, Pakistan. 

Readers will also gain an understanding of the rewards of service across multiple generations.  The author served with great distinction in U.S. Army Special Forces and the Rangers.  Brig. Gen. Theodore Mataxis pinned captain’s bars on his newly-promoted son’s uniform when they were both serving in Vietnam in 1971.  Theodore Mataxis Jr. went on to serve in two more wars: Grenada in 1983 and in El Salvador from 1988 to 1989.  His son, Ted III, carried on the family tradition of service, deploying to combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.  All three who wore ‘Mataxis’ nametags on their combat uniforms began service as enlisted soldiers and non-commissioned officers in the reserves before their commission as officers.  The author, his father, and his son served their nation in eight wars across their three generations.  All three men understood that it is a privilege to serve their nation and their fellow citizens in uniform.  And General Mataxis’ wife, Helma, exhibited other forms of courage and an equal commitment to service.  Married to the general for sixty-five years at the time of his death, she had lived in bombed out Berlin in 1946 with two small children, lived in India with no running water and dirt floors with three small children for over a year, was the only parent for three small children for two years while the General was in Kashmir and then in the Korean war, and endured having both her husband and son in combat together in Vietnam for 14 months.
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All bore trials and tribulations, but they persevered and experienced the joy of being part of teams committed to missions more important than any individual in which the man or woman next to you is willing to sacrifice everything for the soldier next to them.  Ride to the Sound of the Guns is a compelling story that should be shared and discussed with others.  And it is my hope that it will inspire many more to emulate General Mataxis and his family in service of our nation. 

H.R. McMaster
Lieut. Gen., U.S. Army (ret.)
Stanford, California

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK​

Ride to the Sound of the Guns: Ted Mataxis Sr.

Within the pages of this book is a description of the extraordinary odyssey of a man and his quest to master the Spartan mother’s ancient command to “return with your shield… or on it”; his family’s commitment and sacrifice during the course of that journey, and the extraordinary multi-generational legacy of service to nation by his family that he fostered through examples of word and deed.

​Personally, this story resonated with me due to the extraordinary ways in which it paralleled, intersected with, and reflected my own family’s experiences with a father who was a professional Soldier for 32 years spanning WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War. Two of his sons, a grandson, a granddaughter, and a son in law have served, or still serve, covering every conflict since.

Professionally, BG (R) Ted Mataxis, Sr. epitomized the U.S. Army Warrior Ethos: Always Place the Mission First; Never Accept Defeat; Never Quit; and Never Leave a Fallen Comrade. As a leader he lived the Army Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage to their fullest.
In a free society where less than 1% of our citizens serve in the armed forces, this story needs to be known more broadly. While we all hear the mantra that “Freedom is not Free,” too few really understand the fully burdened cost borne by so few.
 
Peter J. Schoomaker
General, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Former CinC, U.S. Special Operations Command
Former Army Chief of Staff
Ride to the Sound of the Guns is so much more than just another war story.  It chronicles the life of a career Soldier and an Army family overlaid on the history of this Nation through wars and peace from WWII to the Global War on Terror, and BG Ted Mataxis Sr. was involved in every event.  Personally, I have never seen or heard of an officer that was on the ground in more places in war and peace and involved in more important actions than BG Mataxis.  The prominent military and civilian leaders that he had interactions with, reads like a list of America’s greatest patriots, many had served under his command and were personally mentored by BG Mataxis.       

This meticulously researched book details the life experiences of a dedicated, talented, and professional Soldier, BG Theodore Mataxis Sr., as witnessed and recorded by his equally talented and dedicated son LTC (ret) Theodore “Ted” Mataxis Jr.

I had the opportunity to be assigned with LTC Mataxis and I was impressed by his work ethic and expertise.  I now know it was clearly inherited from his Army officer father that had incredible experiences around the world in peace, in war, in peacekeeping and at the highest levels of diplomacy. 

I took an immediate affinity to this book as many of the experiences are much like my own as an Army brat raised in France and Eritrea and watching my WWII veteran father deploy time and time again to war zones and embassy assignments around the world.

BG Mataxis came from humble, but sturdy beginnings, and through experiencing hardship and hard work his character was formed.  Raised around combat veterans; to include an influential commander at ROTC, he was shaped as a leader and a mentor.  Personal qualities that would guide him throughout his career.  Of all his incredible contributions it was his position at Valley Forge Military School, where he developed future leaders like Gen H.R. McMaster, that may be one of his greatest legacies.   

This is the story of a Warrior.  This is the story of an Army family that was dedicated, resilient, innovative, and fought through the hardships of constant separation and often assignments into less than desirable conditions.  This is the story of a Nation that was forced to grapple with challenges from the world at war to insurgencies and counter-insurgencies and foreign affairs issues at the PhD level.  Mataxis was integral to all the solutions. 

I read a lot of leadership books but this one goes to the top of the list for Army officers that aspire to do leadership and mentorship correctly.  They will also see what sacrifice and service to the Nation looks like.  As I meet with those about to take command of Army units my first recommendation will be to read, study, and understand Ride to the Sound of the Guns.
 
Bryan “Doug” Brown
General, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Former 7th Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command

​Ride to the Sound of the Guns by Theodore Mataxis Jr., is the story of a great soldier, who epitomized selfless service, duty and service to our great Army and nation.

General Mataxis was a mentor and special friend throughout my service from when I first met him while serving with his son, Ted,  in the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) following our service in Vietnam and later when we again crossed paths in the final days of the Khmer Republic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1975 when the city was under intense rocket and artillery fire, and later to the Northwest Frontier of Pakistan where as a battalion commander and later Group Commander of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), our soldiers provided support and training to the Mujahedeen . Never “stacking arms” after retiring from the Army, he continued to march to the sound of the guns serving our great nation and allies.
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General Mataxis was a true combat leader who was truly an unsung hero of our victory in the Cold War.

​Future generations of soldiers will find this book a must read to enhance their professional development, and all will find it a special story of a great soldier and his family.
 
Kenneth R. Bowra
Major General, U.S. Army  (Ret.)
Smithfield, Virginia

​Ride to the Sound of Guns is a splendidly detailed account of an “Old School” warrior and military scholar who embraced every mission with the same aplomb and courage. Gen. Mataxis’ acquired knowledge of warfare over the course of several crucial engagements is set out in excellent prose by his own son, just one of the General’s myriad mentees and admirers. Mataxis’ story is an American tale of courage, hard work and adaptability. His example and his lessons learned will live on forever!  

Philip Smucker
War Correspondent
Author: "My Brother, My Enemy" and "Al Qaeda’s Great Escape: the Military and the Media"

​In today’s increasingly divided country it’s truly time for a book on a humble American warrior, Ted Mataxis Sr., who served with valor during WW II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War from its’ start in Berlin 1946 to its’ conclusion after Russia’s failure in Afghanistan. How better to have his story written with exquisite detail than by his son, Ted Mataxis, Jr. who had his newly minted captain bars pinned on his uniform by his father while serving our country in Vietnam in 1971. The author of Ride to The Sound of The Guns tells how Teds his grandfather arrived from Greece penniless in 1907 at Ellis Island. His grandfather was able to realize the American dream through hard work and dedication. Ted became so enamored with the land of the brave and the home the free that he set out on a life course of service to the United States.

Over the years there have been thousands of American veterans who returned from war in foreign lands after serving our country and took their stories of service to the grave with them. Thankfully Ted Mataxis, Jr., who served in three wars, stepped up to the plate to document his father’s unique story for all of us to read, while humbly noting that his son Ted Mataxis III is proudly serving our country. Those three generations of soldiers saw combat in eight different wars following the footsteps of Ted Mataxis, Sr., whose story and family history of personal sacrifices are captured in “Ride To The Sounds Of The Guns.”

John Stryker Meyer
Green Beret SOG Veteran, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Author: "Across the Fence," "On the Ground" and "SOG Chronicles Volume One"

​Ted Mataxis’ Ride to the Sound of the Guns is an amazingly detailed account of his father’s career. His ability to weave General Mataxis’ personal and professional anecdotes into a readable and relatable story gives the reader insights into the life of one of the United States’ most accomplished soldiers. The General’s interactions with so many storied individuals throughout a career that spanned so many critical intersections in our nation's modern history, gave him an influence and impact that are almost immeasurable. And all of it is conveyed deftly within the narrative. Regardless if you are a military professional or just an avid reader of biographies and history, you will enjoy this book.

Joe Muccia
Combat veteran , U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
Co-author with Tom Greer: "Cry Havoc: An Untold Story of Rangers at War"

Brig Gen (Ret) Mataxis' Awards

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LIEUTENANT COLONEL (RETIRED) DR. TED MATAXIS JR.
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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.
He immediately volunteered for Vietnam, where he extended multiple times from 1969-1972. His first tour and extension was with the Rakkasan 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.
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.
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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.

AUTOGRAPHED AND PERSONALIZED BOOKS AVAILABLE

The author is happy to sign and personalize your book. Please include your name in the checkout notes. If you served with Ted Sr., Ted Jr., or Ted III, then please include the unit and timeframe, and the author will include this information in his remarks. If you are a veteran, please let the author know as well, and he'll personalize it from one veteran to another.