THOMAS WESLEY MASON
Sept. 13, 1911 - Sept. 4, 2009
The country and the Army lost one of its last surviving Old Regulars and Old China Hands when retired Chief Warrant Officer Four Thomas W. Mason passed away at the age of 97 on Sept. 4, 2009. At the time of his death he was residing at Countryside Adult Care Home in Eddyville.
Tom was born Sept. 13, 1911, in Philomath, the son of Pearl Kitson Mason and Charles Wesley Mason, and grandson of Thomas Diehl Mason whose namesake he was. His first job as a boy was as a jeweler's assistant, cleaning watches and delivering items to customers.
Later, as a boy and young man, he worked as a field hand and lumberman in the 1920s before enlisting in the Army in 1931. After an initial 3-year enlistment with the 9th Field Artillery at Fort Lewis, Wash., he re-enlisted for the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tiensin, China, where he served as a driver for the regimental commander for two years.
He returned to the United States in 1936 and served with the 4th Infantry at Fort Missoula, Mont., until 1938. After a short tour with the Army Air Corps in San Francisco, he subsequently served with the 4th Coastal Artillery in the Panama Canal Zone until 1939.
During World War II he served with the Western Defense Command in San Francisco and with the 18th Coastal Artillery in the Harbor Defenses of the Columbia and had been serving at the rank of sergeant first class when he received his warrant as warrant officer on Nov. 12, 1942.
After World War II he served with the Army of Occupation in Japan from 1946 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950 he served with the 14th Infantry at Fort Carson, Colo. He joined the 3rd Infantry Division after it arrived in Korea in 1950 and served as the assistant division transportation officer until late 1951, having played an important role in the evacuation operations at the port of Hungnam in December 1950, for which he received the Bronze Star. He finished his Army career at Fort Benning, Ga., retiring in 1954 with 23 years service in the regular Army.
Upon his retirement he returned to Oregon where he was a stump farmer and raised livestock. He also served as a mail delivery man in the Forest Grove area. Tom was preceded in death by his wife of 41 years, Frances, in 1983. They were the first couple married in the new post chapel of Fort Stevens, Harbor Defenses of the Columbia, in 1942. They had no children.
Tom outlived all of his family but one nephew, and all of his old friends and Army buddies but one, who is living in a home in California. He leaves behind many younger admirers whom he touched through his membership in the 15th Infantry Association and the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division. Tom was a generous man who endowed scholarships for soldiers' family members through the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division and made generous gifts to many other charities throughout Oregon.
He was as wise as his 97 years, the school of hard knocks and the United States Army could make him, and he will be sorely missed by those who knew him. He considered himself a proud mossback, his family (Hinkle and Shipley) having arrived in Oregon in the middle of the 1850s. Can Do, Tom, and Rock of the Marne!
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, in Mount Calvary Cemetery, 333 S.W. Skyline Blvd., Portland. Arrangements by Heritage Memorial. Memorial contributions may be made to the Old China Hand Scholarship Fund, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, c/o Joe W. Ball, 2010 Worcester Lane, Garland, TX 75040.
Published in The Oregonian on September 27, 2009
Sept. 13, 1911 - Sept. 4, 2009
The country and the Army lost one of its last surviving Old Regulars and Old China Hands when retired Chief Warrant Officer Four Thomas W. Mason passed away at the age of 97 on Sept. 4, 2009. At the time of his death he was residing at Countryside Adult Care Home in Eddyville.
Tom was born Sept. 13, 1911, in Philomath, the son of Pearl Kitson Mason and Charles Wesley Mason, and grandson of Thomas Diehl Mason whose namesake he was. His first job as a boy was as a jeweler's assistant, cleaning watches and delivering items to customers.
Later, as a boy and young man, he worked as a field hand and lumberman in the 1920s before enlisting in the Army in 1931. After an initial 3-year enlistment with the 9th Field Artillery at Fort Lewis, Wash., he re-enlisted for the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tiensin, China, where he served as a driver for the regimental commander for two years.
He returned to the United States in 1936 and served with the 4th Infantry at Fort Missoula, Mont., until 1938. After a short tour with the Army Air Corps in San Francisco, he subsequently served with the 4th Coastal Artillery in the Panama Canal Zone until 1939.
During World War II he served with the Western Defense Command in San Francisco and with the 18th Coastal Artillery in the Harbor Defenses of the Columbia and had been serving at the rank of sergeant first class when he received his warrant as warrant officer on Nov. 12, 1942.
After World War II he served with the Army of Occupation in Japan from 1946 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950 he served with the 14th Infantry at Fort Carson, Colo. He joined the 3rd Infantry Division after it arrived in Korea in 1950 and served as the assistant division transportation officer until late 1951, having played an important role in the evacuation operations at the port of Hungnam in December 1950, for which he received the Bronze Star. He finished his Army career at Fort Benning, Ga., retiring in 1954 with 23 years service in the regular Army.
Upon his retirement he returned to Oregon where he was a stump farmer and raised livestock. He also served as a mail delivery man in the Forest Grove area. Tom was preceded in death by his wife of 41 years, Frances, in 1983. They were the first couple married in the new post chapel of Fort Stevens, Harbor Defenses of the Columbia, in 1942. They had no children.
Tom outlived all of his family but one nephew, and all of his old friends and Army buddies but one, who is living in a home in California. He leaves behind many younger admirers whom he touched through his membership in the 15th Infantry Association and the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division. Tom was a generous man who endowed scholarships for soldiers' family members through the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division and made generous gifts to many other charities throughout Oregon.
He was as wise as his 97 years, the school of hard knocks and the United States Army could make him, and he will be sorely missed by those who knew him. He considered himself a proud mossback, his family (Hinkle and Shipley) having arrived in Oregon in the middle of the 1850s. Can Do, Tom, and Rock of the Marne!
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, in Mount Calvary Cemetery, 333 S.W. Skyline Blvd., Portland. Arrangements by Heritage Memorial. Memorial contributions may be made to the Old China Hand Scholarship Fund, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, c/o Joe W. Ball, 2010 Worcester Lane, Garland, TX 75040.
Published in The Oregonian on September 27, 2009
THOMAS WESLEY MASON
Sept. 13, 1911 - Sept. 4, 2009
The country and the Army lost one of its last surviving Old Regulars and Old China Hands when retired Chief Warrant Officer Four Thomas W. Mason passed away at the age of 97 on Sept. 4, 2009. At the time of his death he was residing at Countryside Adult Care Home in Eddyville.
Tom was born Sept. 13, 1911, in Philomath, the son of Pearl Kitson Mason and Charles Wesley Mason, and grandson of Thomas Diehl Mason whose namesake he was. His first job as a boy was as a jeweler's assistant, cleaning watches and delivering items to customers.
Later, as a boy and young man, he worked as a field hand and lumberman in the 1920s before enlisting in the Army in 1931. After an initial 3-year enlistment with the 9th Field Artillery at Fort Lewis, Wash., he re-enlisted for the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tiensin, China, where he served as a driver for the regimental commander for two years.
He returned to the United States in 1936 and served with the 4th Infantry at Fort Missoula, Mont., until 1938. After a short tour with the Army Air Corps in San Francisco, he subsequently served with the 4th Coastal Artillery in the Panama Canal Zone until 1939.
During World War II he served with the Western Defense Command in San Francisco and with the 18th Coastal Artillery in the Harbor Defenses of the Columbia and had been serving at the rank of sergeant first class when he received his warrant as warrant officer on Nov. 12, 1942.
After World War II he served with the Army of Occupation in Japan from 1946 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950 he served with the 14th Infantry at Fort Carson, Colo. He joined the 3rd Infantry Division after it arrived in Korea in 1950 and served as the assistant division transportation officer until late 1951, having played an important role in the evacuation operations at the port of Hungnam in December 1950, for which he received the Bronze Star. He finished his Army career at Fort Benning, Ga., retiring in 1954 with 23 years service in the regular Army.
Upon his retirement he returned to Oregon where he was a stump farmer and raised livestock. He also served as a mail delivery man in the Forest Grove area. Tom was preceded in death by his wife of 41 years, Frances, in 1983. They were the first couple married in the new post chapel of Fort Stevens, Harbor Defenses of the Columbia, in 1942. They had no children.
Tom outlived all of his family but one nephew, and all of his old friends and Army buddies but one, who is living in a home in California. He leaves behind many younger admirers whom he touched through his membership in the 15th Infantry Association and the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division. Tom was a generous man who endowed scholarships for soldiers' family members through the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division and made generous gifts to many other charities throughout Oregon.
He was as wise as his 97 years, the school of hard knocks and the United States Army could make him, and he will be sorely missed by those who knew him. He considered himself a proud mossback, his family (Hinkle and Shipley) having arrived in Oregon in the middle of the 1850s. Can Do, Tom, and Rock of the Marne!
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, in Mount Calvary Cemetery, 333 S.W. Skyline Blvd., Portland. Arrangements by Heritage Memorial. Memorial contributions may be made to the Old China Hand Scholarship Fund, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, c/o Joe W. Ball, 2010 Worcester Lane, Garland, TX 75040.
Published in The Oregonian on September 27, 2009
Sept. 13, 1911 - Sept. 4, 2009
The country and the Army lost one of its last surviving Old Regulars and Old China Hands when retired Chief Warrant Officer Four Thomas W. Mason passed away at the age of 97 on Sept. 4, 2009. At the time of his death he was residing at Countryside Adult Care Home in Eddyville.
Tom was born Sept. 13, 1911, in Philomath, the son of Pearl Kitson Mason and Charles Wesley Mason, and grandson of Thomas Diehl Mason whose namesake he was. His first job as a boy was as a jeweler's assistant, cleaning watches and delivering items to customers.
Later, as a boy and young man, he worked as a field hand and lumberman in the 1920s before enlisting in the Army in 1931. After an initial 3-year enlistment with the 9th Field Artillery at Fort Lewis, Wash., he re-enlisted for the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tiensin, China, where he served as a driver for the regimental commander for two years.
He returned to the United States in 1936 and served with the 4th Infantry at Fort Missoula, Mont., until 1938. After a short tour with the Army Air Corps in San Francisco, he subsequently served with the 4th Coastal Artillery in the Panama Canal Zone until 1939.
During World War II he served with the Western Defense Command in San Francisco and with the 18th Coastal Artillery in the Harbor Defenses of the Columbia and had been serving at the rank of sergeant first class when he received his warrant as warrant officer on Nov. 12, 1942.
After World War II he served with the Army of Occupation in Japan from 1946 to 1948. From 1948 to 1950 he served with the 14th Infantry at Fort Carson, Colo. He joined the 3rd Infantry Division after it arrived in Korea in 1950 and served as the assistant division transportation officer until late 1951, having played an important role in the evacuation operations at the port of Hungnam in December 1950, for which he received the Bronze Star. He finished his Army career at Fort Benning, Ga., retiring in 1954 with 23 years service in the regular Army.
Upon his retirement he returned to Oregon where he was a stump farmer and raised livestock. He also served as a mail delivery man in the Forest Grove area. Tom was preceded in death by his wife of 41 years, Frances, in 1983. They were the first couple married in the new post chapel of Fort Stevens, Harbor Defenses of the Columbia, in 1942. They had no children.
Tom outlived all of his family but one nephew, and all of his old friends and Army buddies but one, who is living in a home in California. He leaves behind many younger admirers whom he touched through his membership in the 15th Infantry Association and the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division. Tom was a generous man who endowed scholarships for soldiers' family members through the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division and made generous gifts to many other charities throughout Oregon.
He was as wise as his 97 years, the school of hard knocks and the United States Army could make him, and he will be sorely missed by those who knew him. He considered himself a proud mossback, his family (Hinkle and Shipley) having arrived in Oregon in the middle of the 1850s. Can Do, Tom, and Rock of the Marne!
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, in Mount Calvary Cemetery, 333 S.W. Skyline Blvd., Portland. Arrangements by Heritage Memorial. Memorial contributions may be made to the Old China Hand Scholarship Fund, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, c/o Joe W. Ball, 2010 Worcester Lane, Garland, TX 75040.
Published in The Oregonian on September 27, 2009
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