Walt Mathias 1925-2010
I arrived to my new assignment at the Headquarters for the American Forces Network Europe, Frankfurt, Germany in 1986 on the day the Space Shuttle "Challenger" exploded during launch, and watched the story on the evening AFN TV News. AFN News was a big deal before the advent of multiple satellite channels available for viewing in Europe for American Service personnel and their families, AFN News was the news! Walt Mathias had a very big job, that of ensuring everything... all the equipment from capture to edit to operation of the "live from the studio" 6 PM Evening newscast Monday through Friday and to ensure everything worked perfectly. Walt gave a damn, and he was always there for all of us lucky enough to be privileged to work for the American Forces Network in 1980's when I knew him. Walt was a major player to the success story of AFN-E.
From Charlie Gill, Director, Air Force News Service Europe & Middle EastDear Friends,
I am so sorry to tell you Walt Matheis passed away today, 13 Nov at 12:20 PM. He had been resting comfortably in a hospital bed brought to his home. His longtime companion of 19 years, Gerda was there, and I was able to be there also. He had been growing weaker by the day, as his heart was simply giving out. He slipped away quietly and in peace. There was no discomfort and he knew he was at home. Up until the last few months, his health had always been very good. He was able to travel, take vacations and have a few beers each week.
He would have been 86 years old next month. Walt retired from AFN in 1989 after 35 years of service to AFN, and as you know, he always thought of himself as "Half American".
Dear AFN Family,
We are all a part of the long and storied history of AFN. One of the icons of our history, Mr Walter Matheis, recently passed away. Below is a brief account of his life with AFN written by his friend Mr Charlie Gill. Walt is one of the many men and women who built the foundation of the organization we serve today. May he rest in peace.
On Saturday Nov 13th, AFN lost a great family member. Walter Matheis passed away peacefully in his home in Kaiserslautern, Germany, at the age of 85. After two pacemakers, his heart had just given out. Walt had been with the Armed Forces Radio Television Service family for 35 years. He retired as Chief, Audio Visual, at AFN in 1989. He originally began with AFRTS at Ramstein, Air Base in 1955 in the building now occupied by the Regional News Bureau. He transitioned from AF to Army Television in 1972 in the same place and eventually moved with the young TV Network to the Network HQ at AFN Frankfurt. He was an expert at motion picture photography with film and video camera operation, all the while he was the official still photographer for AFN. Many of those images on the walls of AFN were captured by him. Walt had an extraordinary life. Near the end of WWII he was a Panzer driver. He rarely spoke of the war, but he will tell you this. As the German army was surrendering, he ditched his tank and grabbed a bicycle (says he traded it and laughed about that as if we’d believe it were really true) and rode it to the side of a dirt road near Poland, waving a white flag. An American convoy was coming. He had never met an American, and was terrified about what they might do to him. Two MP’s roughly threw him in the back of a truck and kept moving. He was hungry, wet and exhausted. Walt said he was never so happy. The Russians had captured his father earlier and summarily executed him. At the American POW camp, Walt was given the opportunity of learning how to take pictures. He had a knack for it and got better at it as time went on. He jokes he “Re-enlisted in that camp—for the U.S.”. Sometime later, he took a job as the Ramstein Base photographer. Then he learned motion picture camera operation. His career with AFRTS began 55 years ago. Over the years he photographed and filmed five U.S. presidents and countless dignitaries. He also taught and mentored hundreds of Soldiers and Airmen on how to become first-class camera operators. He would meticulously review video after each job and would tirelessly work with the camera operators to make sure they would improve each time. He loved everything about America. He liked Dentine gum and American hamburgers, with dill pickles, and the old Army Air Force Exchange Service snack bar before we ever had fast food on post here. He relished talking about American Presidents, and American doughnuts. He cared about, worried about, and always helped the people who worked for him. Above all he was dedicated to making sure only the best products made it to air.
Walter Matheis was truly an AFN Legend.
What a fitting tribute to a great man, and beloved AFN'er. Thank you for making his story available to the AFN family. Your message as AFN commander officially expresses all that we personally feel.
It means a lot to those of us who knew and loved Walt, especially Charlie.
Best regards
Sonny
1 comments:
Eric Ford to me
I also met Wal Matheis for the first time in 1986. Everyone I worked with who also worked with Walt had good things to say about him. He drove a silver-grey BMW. He could often be seen helping the camera crews get ready for a shoot. When I picked up the office mail or my own mail near his office, he was often seen chatting with fellow AFNers. Even though I wasn't officially assigned to AFN, I lived and worked in the building and through that I was as much an AFNer as I could be. In my eyes, Walt didn't see it as "a news guy" or "a tech guy" and he was great with all of us.
I love the part about Walt being "half-American." Rest In Peace, brother.
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