Matti Mattson
Encyclopedia
Matti August Mattson was an American labor organizer, social activist, and Veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
in the Spanish Civil War
.
. He completed one year of high school and then studied at the B.F. Brown Junior High School, where he took an elective course in printing. He then worked as a blacksmith’s helper at a granite quarry on top of Rollstone Hill in Fitchburg, where a massive glacial boulder stood (it is now on the small triangle on the Upper Common). He lived on Mount Elam Road.
During the Great Depression, he joined the Young Communist League
(YCL), the youth organization of the Communist Party USA. He was active in demonstrating, and among other things walked in a "Hunger March" to Boston. The slogans were Feed the Needy, Enact Unemployment Insurance and establish a system of Social Security
.
, Mattson was one of four Fitchburg volunteers who went to Spain in a clandestine manner to help the Spanish people defend the legally elected Spanish Republic
against the Spanish generals' betrayal, aided by their backers Hitler
and Mussolini
. He sailed for Spain on the SS Washington.
Once in France, he boarded a small wine-transporting boat that the small businessman risked losing (along with his life) in the Mediterranean port of Sète
, about 100 miles from the frontier with Spain. He told the New York Times: "We got on at night when no one was looking — we hoped." He and others reached Spain in March 1937.
In Spain, he was in infantry training for about two weeks and was then assigned to the XIII Brigade Intendencia as a truck driver on the Southern Front. After Brunete
, Mattson transferred to the XV Brigade as a front-line ambulance driver where he was with the Lincoln-Washington Battalion at all of its actions until the Ebro Crossing.
He returned to the United States in December, 1938.
About his service as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, Mattson has said:
At a march and ceremony for the International Brigades
before they left Spain, Mattson heard Dolores Ibárruri
, "La Pasionaria", speak. In 2008, Mattson said:
. He graduated with his class but was not permitted to fly because of his political activities. He was ordered to the Army Corps of Engineers
and served in the European Theater
. Later he was sent to the Pacific as part of the army of occupation in Japan after the close of hostilities. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Mattson was a member of Veterans for Peace
, NYC Chapter 34. For many years he has marched the length of Fifth Avenue in the Veterans Day Parade and has spoken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in lower Manhattan on Memorial Day. He was often a speaker at the annual reunions of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in New York City.
On March 30, 2008, Mattson was one of 11 veterans of the Lincoln Brigade present at the dedication of a monument to the Brigade on the Embarcadero in San Francisco
, California.
On August 26, 2009, Mattson was made a citizen of Spain. According to The Volunteer of December 2009,
The ceremony took place in the office of Fernando Villalonga, Spanish Consul General in New York. Mattson is quoted as saying:
On September 6, 2009, Mattson was guest of honor at a dinner organized by the Friends and Family of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade at the Centro Vasco Restaurant on West 23rd Street, New York City
On January 29, 2010, Mattson was honored with the President's Medal by Fitchburg State College
at its Commencement ceremonies. On this occasion he said:
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists....
in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Background
Mattson was born in Fitchburg, MassachusettsFitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg is the third largest city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,318 at the 2010 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private elementary and high schools.- History :...
. He completed one year of high school and then studied at the B.F. Brown Junior High School, where he took an elective course in printing. He then worked as a blacksmith’s helper at a granite quarry on top of Rollstone Hill in Fitchburg, where a massive glacial boulder stood (it is now on the small triangle on the Upper Common). He lived on Mount Elam Road.
During the Great Depression, he joined the Young Communist League
Young Communist League, USA
The Young Communist League USA is the fraternal youth organization of the Communist Party USA. Although the name of the group has changed a number of times over the years, it dates its lineage back to 1920, shortly after the establishment of the first communist parties in America.-Early years:The...
(YCL), the youth organization of the Communist Party USA. He was active in demonstrating, and among other things walked in a "Hunger March" to Boston. The slogans were Feed the Needy, Enact Unemployment Insurance and establish a system of Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
.
Spanish Civil War
Strongly opposed to FascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, Mattson was one of four Fitchburg volunteers who went to Spain in a clandestine manner to help the Spanish people defend the legally elected Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
against the Spanish generals' betrayal, aided by their backers Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. He sailed for Spain on the SS Washington.
Once in France, he boarded a small wine-transporting boat that the small businessman risked losing (along with his life) in the Mediterranean port of Sète
Sète
Sète is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Sétois....
, about 100 miles from the frontier with Spain. He told the New York Times: "We got on at night when no one was looking — we hoped." He and others reached Spain in March 1937.
In Spain, he was in infantry training for about two weeks and was then assigned to the XIII Brigade Intendencia as a truck driver on the Southern Front. After Brunete
Battle of Brunete
The Battle of Brunete , fought 15 miles west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War...
, Mattson transferred to the XV Brigade as a front-line ambulance driver where he was with the Lincoln-Washington Battalion at all of its actions until the Ebro Crossing.
He returned to the United States in December, 1938.
About his service as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, Mattson has said:
- "I now feel that the decision to volunteer was the most important single thing that I have done. We helped wake the world up to the danger of war, and allowed (the Allies) to prepare somewhat."
At a march and ceremony for the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
before they left Spain, Mattson heard Dolores Ibárruri
Dolores Ibárruri
Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez , known more famously as "La Pasionaria" was a Spanish Republican leader of the Spanish Civil War and communist politician of Basque origin...
, "La Pasionaria", speak. In 2008, Mattson said:
- "I heard her when we left Spain in 1938. We marched down the DiagonalAvinguda Diagonal, BarcelonaAvinguda Diagonal is the name of one of Barcelona's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally from west to east , hence the name....
in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, then we had a meeting at the end there and she spoke.” He said that she was braver than either one of them (John McCainJohn McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
)".
World War II
During World War II, Mattson joined the US Army and was trained as a pilot in the Army Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
. He graduated with his class but was not permitted to fly because of his political activities. He was ordered to the Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
and served in the European Theater
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
. Later he was sent to the Pacific as part of the army of occupation in Japan after the close of hostilities. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Later life
Mattson worked as a printer in New York until his retirement. He was an activist in Local 6 of the Printers Union.Mattson was a member of Veterans for Peace
Veterans for Peace
Veterans For Peace is a United States organization founded in 1985. Made up of male and female US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and other conflicts, as well as peacetime veterans, the group works to promote alternatives to war.-Foundation:The...
, NYC Chapter 34. For many years he has marched the length of Fifth Avenue in the Veterans Day Parade and has spoken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in lower Manhattan on Memorial Day. He was often a speaker at the annual reunions of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in New York City.
On March 30, 2008, Mattson was one of 11 veterans of the Lincoln Brigade present at the dedication of a monument to the Brigade on the Embarcadero in San Francisco
Port of San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. It has been called one of the three great natural harbors in the world, but it took two long centuries for navigators from Spain and England to find the anchorage originally called Yerba Buena...
, California.
On August 26, 2009, Mattson was made a citizen of Spain. According to The Volunteer of December 2009,
- On August 26, 2009, Mattson became the third surviving Lincoln vet to take advantage of one of the key provisions of Spain's controversial "Law of Historical Memory," which allows veterans of the International Brigades to acquire Spanish citizenship without renouncing their other nationality.
The ceremony took place in the office of Fernando Villalonga, Spanish Consul General in New York. Mattson is quoted as saying:
- "I am going to accept this citizenship for not only the guys who are buried in Spain, there’s a lot of them, but the guys that are buried in the United States."
On September 6, 2009, Mattson was guest of honor at a dinner organized by the Friends and Family of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade at the Centro Vasco Restaurant on West 23rd Street, New York City
On January 29, 2010, Mattson was honored with the President's Medal by Fitchburg State College
Fitchburg State College
Fitchburg State University, also known as Fitchburg State, is a four-year public institution of higher learning with a compact urban campus, located in the city of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Fitchburg State University has over 3,500 undergraduate and over 1650 graduate/continuing education...
at its Commencement ceremonies. On this occasion he said:
- "I am and will still be a staunch anti-fascist and will oppose war to the same extent as before I went to Spain, and after I returned to my country. I know that my life has been somewhat different from some others during my time on Earth, but it has always been an honest effort, and has fulfilled the teaching that my immigrant parents gave me: ‘Try to leave the Earth in better condition than you found it.’"