Not sure what the long-term benefit of recording my life history will be, if anything, but every now and then I have memories of the past and I suppose it is a good idea to write them down.
I will try and write my history in chronological order as best I can, starting with some background on my parents and my earliest memories of living on Alvina Drive, Pleasant Hill, California.
William Floyd Matthews/Dorothy Ellen Harris
My father William F. Matthews, who went to High School in Vallejo, California enlisted in the US Army in 1943 and served in France during the war.
Shortly after my father was transferred from the Forward Observer job the Lieutenant’s half trac took a direct hit and the Lieutenant was killed. In hindsight my father viewed his transfer not as a coincidence or of being lucky, but of a great blessing that preserved his life.
The 10th armor division was under the direction of General Patton and was moving across France very quickly. Regularly the supply trucks would end up sitting in long lines of tanks and other equipment on the banks of rivers while they waited for the engineers to build bridges that would allow them to cross. The supplies they took to the tanks on the front lines were mostly fuel and food. One time around Thanksgiving they were taking a load of turkeys up to the front so the soldiers there could have a Thanksgiving dinner.
Once my father did actually see General Patton. It was at some sort of troop show, like a USO show. All the soldiers were sitting in bleachers and Patton was down below up front. To make fun of the General or to tease him or whatever, several of the soldiers were throwing peanut shells down to where he was sitting.
The motto of the 10th armored division, which would never be politically correct in this day and age, was “Terrify and Destroy”
On one occasion while my fathers’ platoon was making a trip to the front lines, he was riding in the lead jeep. They were traveling through a valley when a German tank sitting on top of a hill opened fire on them. The tank hit the first truck, the one my father would normally have been riding in, and instantly killed the driver. The truck was then blocking the road so the rest of the platoon could not move forward. A friend of my fathers was riding in the next truck, he jumped out of his truck and ran forward to the hit truck all while under fire. The friend pushed the driver out of the truck and then drove it off the road. The friend then returned to his truck and they all moved forward out of the valley. After they arrived at their destination the trucks were all filled with bullet holes and my fathers’ friend subsequently received a medal for his bravery.
Another time during the winter as the platoon was making a trip back from the front lines a German soldier came out of the woods with his hands up. At this point in the war many German soldiers were giving up because they were freezing and starving to death and they realized they had lost the war. My father took the solider and put him in the cab of their truck in the middle seat. As they drove along the prisoner began talking about how great Hitler was, etc. My father and the other USA soldier did not want to listen to this talk, so they made the soldier ride on the hood of the truck. By the time they reached the drop off point for German prisoners the soldier was frozen solid. They basically rolled him off the hood of the truck and turned him over to the MPs. Later my father felt kind of bad about this but when telling the story always mentioned that at this time, he was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When capturing the German solider they took what souvenirs from him that he had. My father ended up with a German parade bayonet and a German Lugar pistol. Later he traded the pistol for a Walther P38. Having a pistol was nice because then he did not have to carry his rifle with him everywhere he went.
Another time the 10th armor division was liberating a French town that had a large sports stadium. While looking around the stadium they found a closet that contained brand new German swastika flags. My father took one of these as a souvenir. Eventually I ended up with the pistol and my brother Tim has the flag with the bayonet.
The 10th armor division was also involved in the Battle of the Bulge. My fathers platoon played a crucial role during the battle by bringing supplies to the tanks that were moving into Bastogne to liberate the stranded troops there.
Driving trucks and being in France had a big impact on my father’s life. While there he thought that one day maybe he would be a truck driver as a profession, and he talked with his cousin Johnny about returning to France some day to open the first French bowling alley. My father loved to bowl and as a child he worked in a bowling alley as a pin setter.
When the war ended my father returned to Vallejo in 1946 where he lived with his parents, Floyd and Mona Matthews at 1005 Mariposa, Vallejo, California. After returning home he began working in an office at the Mare Island shipyard and he bought himself a new car. While overseas my father sent most all his money home so after he had quite a bit saved up. Consequently, when the car manufactures began producing cars again he bought a brand new red convertible. I am not sure what brand it was, but he said him and his buddies would drive all over town each weekend, staying out late, messing around. This made his father Floyd upset because Floyd though he was just wasting his life. As a result if he stayed out too late Floyd would lock the door to the house. However, my grandmother Mona felt sorry for my father and would leave the bedroom window open for him so he could sneak in to go to bed.
During the war my mother Dorothy Harris lived in Salt Lake City and worked at a bank. One day while working she went into the bank vault. While in the vault she had this strong spiritual feeling that she should quit and move back to California. She did not know why at the time she would have such a prompting because she had a good job and all the LDS boys were coming back from the war, but she knew she could not ignore what she felt.
Immediately my mother quit the bank job and moved. After arriving in California, she obtained an office job on Mare Island working in the same building as my father only she was on the 1st floor and he worked on the second. My mother caught my fathers eye and so one day when he went to lunch he brought her back an ice cream cone. My mom says it was a very hot day and by the time he arrived back at the office the ice cream was melting over his hands but she thought it was a very kind gesture. Subsequently, my father asked my mother out on a date for the following Saturday. Being a strong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my mother had a policy that if she went on a date with a non-member she would introduce him to the Gospel and if he showed interest she would continue to date, if not she would move on.
On their first date my father and mother went to an auto demolition derby. Not the most romantic date but at the time demolition derbies were extremely popular. While on their date my mother talked a lot about the Church and my father mostly just listened. He said it was interesting, but he was not a deeply religious guy and was not brought up going to church or anything like that. On that first date when my father came to pick my mother up at her home my grandmother, Edna Harris said she knew the minute he walked in the door that this was the man my mother would marry. This despite the fact my father was not a member of the Church, smoked, drank, etc. For the second date they went to a double header Oakland Oaks baseball game. Again, my mother talked a lot about the church and my father began to ask some questions. The two started to date regularly and at one point my father thought to himself, maybe this is true.
After my father began to think about the Church he started the missionary discussions. A short time later he was baptized and my mom and him became engaged. However, the Church’s policy at the time was no new member could go through the temple until they had been a member for 1 year. Therefore, after becoming engaged they planned to be married in a year when my father was eligible to go to the temple. Subsequently, I believe after about 10 months the Bishop felt it had been long enough and he gave my father a temple recommend. With the recommend they drove to Idaho and were married in the Idaho Falls temple in 1948. From the time my father was baptized he was a sold member of the Church. Nevertheless, there were many things that made him nervous. For example, he was very anxious about the idea he would be called on in a meeting to say a public prayer. Consequently, he kept a prayer cheat sheet in his pocket every time he went to Church that he could refer too if asked to pray.
After they were married my mother encouraged my father to go back to school so he began night school at Golden Gate University in San Francisco studying accounting. After finishing school my mother pushed my dad to continue and obtain his Certified Public Accountant license.
Upon graduation my father began working for the State of California as an auditor. I believe he was a sales tax auditor and it was an extremely easy job. He was partnered with an older Auditor and said that they could finish their work by lunch, so they would go eat and then pretty much just play pinball the rest of the day. At some point, and I am not sure when this was, but my parents bought a home at 1924 Alvina Drive, Pleasant Hill, California.
When the home was originally purchased it was new and cost about $5,000 dollars. My grandfather sat down with my father when he was considering the purchase and talked to him about the consequences of going into so much debt.
This was the home where my family lived when I was born. First though I will tell about the history I know before I was born.
The first child to be born was my older brother named Tommy in 1949. When Tommy was born he was a sick baby. Tom had a problem with the production of bile that helps with digestion. Consequently, he could not digest food properly and was not expected to live long. This of course was very trying for my parents but at the same time it turned out to be a great blessing. Up until this time my mother, being a lifelong member of the church, was pretty much the spiritual leader of the marriage. My father was coming along but was still a recent convert.
Regardless of the health issues, Tom continued to live. There were many trips to the Doctors office and occasional hospital stays, but he continued to grow and survive. This was of course considered a miracle not only by my parents but by the medical community. My mother was asked to bring Tom to conferences or other meetings where the Doctors could examine him and try to figure out why he was continuing to live. In the meantime, the medical bills were building up, this was a time prior to medical insurance. On one occasion, my parents were asked to meet with the hospital financial person to set up a payment plan. My father created a list of their monthly income and expenses, and they presented it to the hospital. The financial person saw the expense of 10% tithing and asked what this was. It was explained to the hospital person that this was the monthly donation paid to the church. The man replied that in good times paying the 10% would be acceptable but under the current circumstances they would not be able to continue with that payment. My father advised that they were going to continue to pay the tithing and that they would find it from reducing some of the other monthly expenses. This story was told to me by both my mother and my father on different occasions and both referred to it as a turning point in their marriage and relationship. A point where my father began to step up as a member of the Church and exercise his faith and gospel leadership.
The times were hard with Tommy but my mother took constant care of him, moving him into the sunlight to help with jaundice, preparing food that he could digest, etc. Eventually my mother became pregnant a second time with my brother Tim.
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| Timothy Floyd Matthews October 1952 |
When Tim was born he was a big healthy boy which was a very nice change. Not too long after Tim was born Tom once again became sick and was admitted to the hospital. My parents felt this time was different then the previous hospital stays and that there was a good chance Tom would not be coming home. In addition, they could see that Tom was in a lot of pain and that most likely he would never be able to live a normal life. Subsequently, their prayers changed and instead of praying and fasting for a miracle they began to pray that if it were God's will that Tom would be taken so he would not suffer any longer.
Tom passed away in 1953. My father was at work and came home to find my mother laying on the bed crying. My father laid down next to her and began to remind her about the plan of salvation, the purpose we are here on earth and what happens to us when we die. Again, this was a turning point in their marriage and life, a time when my father was strengthening my mother spiritually. Both later recognized how having Tommy in their lives for just a short time, approximately 3 years, was Heavenly Father's way of blessing them and preparing them for the future life they would live. I never knew much about Tom but my parents always had a small framed picture of him sitting on our fireplace mantel.
Another event that happened around this time was my grandfather Floyd, on my father's side, died in 1951. Floyd came home from work, he worked as an electrician at the Mare Island Shipyard in Vallejo, ate dinner then said he felt like he had some indigestion, so he was going to lay down. Later my grandmother, Mona, went in to check on him and he was gone. My grandmother Mona, who became called Baba, moved in with us. Baba was a nickname that I believe Tommy gave her and that was the name she was known by to everyone the rest of her life. This was before I was born but from that time forward Baba lived with us until I was in High School. Things were not always easy for my mother having her mother-in-law live with us but at my age I never realized that. Baba was a great grandmother and loved us children very much. She was kind and would do anything for us.
