William Theodius Mattison (1916–1951)

William Theodius (Bill) Mattison was one of the small number of Arkansans who earned a place among the group of Black Americans who formed the Tuskegee Airmen, a segregated unit of pilots who fought in Europe during World War II.

Bill Mattison was born on October 16, 1916, in Conway (Faulkner County) to Willie Josanders Mattison and Luella Rankin Mattison, both from the Conway area. He was schooled at the Pine Street School in Conway and attended Arkansas AM&N (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) and Howard University in Washington DC, becoming a rural schoolteacher before his military service.

Mattison married Phoebe Janet Allen in 1948, and they had one son, William T. Mattison Jr. (1949–2019), who had a career in cable television.

Mattison graduated from Tuskegee’s flight program on October 9, 1942, as a second lieutenant. He served as operations officer and a member of the famed 100^th Squadron in Italy. Mattison also served as the commanding officer of the 302^nd Squadron from October 13, 1942, to March 29, 1943. These units were part of the 332^nd Fighter Squadron, known as the Red Tails.

On September 8, 1944, Captain Mattison led forty-two P-51 Mustangs of the 332^nd Fighter Group to attack the Luftwaffe airfield at Ilandza in Yugoslavia (now Serbia). About twenty planes were spotted on the ground, and twenty-three of the Mustangs dropped down to the deck to strafe them, covered by fourteen others. The attack destroyed eighteen aircraft. The group then continued to the airfield at Alibunar, where fifteen P-51s attacked parked aircraft while twenty-six fighters flew top cover in expectation that the now-alerted Luftwaffe would respond. Instead, the group eliminated fifteen Fw 190s, two Bf 109s, and an SM.84 transport in the face of moderate flak. The group also destroyed a locomotive on the way home. For this action, Mattison was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In addition, Mattison was awarded two Bronze Stars and six Air Medals for campaigns in Rome, Arno, southern France, the Rhineland, the Balkans, northern France, the northern Apennines, and the Po Valley.

Major Mattison was killed in a weather-related crash near Oak Harbor, Ohio, on January 28, 1951, while piloting a U.S. Air Force C-45F “Expeditor” en route to Bolling Air Force Base in Washington DC. His co-pilot and three other air force personnel also died. He had been going to Washington to serve as a professor and the head of the Department of Air Science and Tactics at Howard University. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery. His wife Phoebe, who died in 1999, is buried there with him.

For additional information:
“Arkansan, Four Others Die as Plane Crashes.” Arkansas Gazette, January 30, 1951, p. 1.

“Five Killed in Crash of Army Plane Near Here.” Ottawa County Exponent, February 2, 1951, p. 1.

“MAJ William Theodius Mattison Sr.” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49258985/william-theodius-mattison (accessed July 10, 2026).

“Negro Hero of War Dies in Ohio Crash.” Arkansas Democrat, January 29, 1951, p. 14.

“Servicemen Die in Ohio Plane Crash.” Akron Beacon Journal, January 29. 1951, p. 7.

Richard Holbert
Little Rock, Arkansas