OCEAN CITY — Polio survivor Bill Matz has spent every summer since 1946 in America’s Greatest Family Resort — except when he was overseas fighting to keep the country safe from foreign enemies.
“The only summers I ever missed were times when I was in Vietnam, Korea or serving overseas with the Army,” the retired major general told the Sentinel.
Matz now owns a condominium at Gardens Plaza and always stayed in that part of the island. His grandparents rented a home on St. Charles Place, next to Brown’s Doughnuts, and later bought another on Stenton Place. His father bought a house on Fourth Street and he and his wife purchased one on Second Street.
He said he nows spends about six months a year in Ocean City and the other six months in Florida.
The 86-year-old Drexel Hill, Pa., native who was raised in Lansdowne was stricken with polio in August 1944, during one of the worst outbreaks in the Philadelphia region.
“I was paralyzed in my right leg, from hip to toe. The doctor told my mother I would never walk again,” Matz said.
But through “grit and perseverance,” and a World War II U.S. Navy veteran for a father who demanded it, Matz was able to overcome the effects of the disease to rise to one of the highest ranks in the military.
“I was very, very lucky. That’s really what the book is about, overcoming adversity as a young boy,” Matz said, referencing “My Toughest Battle: A Soldier’s Lifelong Struggle with Polio,” his book set to be released Jan. 15, 2025. At 320 pages, the hardcover with a foreword by Maj. Gen. James Livingston is available for pre-order for $34.95 at Amazon.com.
“I was just a determined young man all through my polio treatments, in the hospital with braces,” he said, noting he was treated by Sister Kenny, the Australian nurse who treated thousands of patients with her unique method.
Still, Matz’s right leg was an inch and a half shorter than his left and his right foot was size 9 and left foot size 12.
Despite that, he was able to pass an exam for entry into the ROTC program at Gettysburg College. He graduated in 1962 and was commissioned a second lieutenant.
“They reluctantly passed me,” he said, noting he was able to achieve his dream of becoming a paratrooper.
Matz said he started to put notes on his life together to share with his seven grandsons, who range in age from 18 to 23 years old now.
“They had many questions of Grandpop as we grew up. I told my wife when I left the Trump administration that I wanted to leave them a written legacy. I wish father had done that for me,” he said. “I had no idea how to write a book, so I started working with an editor.”
Lt. Gen. Carmen J. Cavezza, U.S. Army (Ret.), former commanding general I Corps and Fort Lewis, chairman and CEO emerita of the National Infantry Museum Foundation, was quoted on the book’s page at Amazon.com.
“This heartfelt, lively story of courage and faithful service to family, country and the traditional American values of liberty, patriotism and religion is sure to inspire, encourage and reassure readers of all ages and persuasions,” Cavezza states. “Americans searching for an uplifting story of selfless service and overcoming physical adversity will find it in this book.”
The book is described as “the inspiring life story of a young boy stricken with polio who, through sheer grit, the drive to achieve and love of the military, overcomes childhood paralysis, takes up the physical challenges of an infantry career and joins the elite airborne forces.”
Matz earned a Ranger Tab and Master Parachute Badge, then rose to the highest levels of achievement in the U.S. Army. He served in the DMZ in Korea, led troops in combat in Vietnam, was wounded in the Tet Offensive and received the Distinguished Service Cross for Valor.
He later led troops during the Panama invasion — all while wearing a specially fitted combat boot and a foot orthotic device on his atrophied “polio leg.”
Later duties included serving as executive secretary to the Secretary of Defense during the President Ronald Reagan administration.
Matz retired in 1995 as a major general after numerous overseas deployments and a 30-year Army career during which he worked in the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Matz led the fight on behalf of the wounded, disabled and their families as a member of the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission and as president of the National Association for Uniformed Services, later becoming the guardian of America’s war dead as Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission.
“A witness to or participant in many of the most defining moments of American history of the last 60 years, Bill Matz retired ‘for the fifth time’ in 2021 and remains active as a recognized public speaker and proponent for veterans and the military.
“‘My Toughest Battle’ portrays the personal challenges and inner resources he relied on to meet the demands of service to his nation as an infantryman and paratrooper in times of peace and war, and candidly reveals how he was able to achieve his goals while battling the debilitating effects of polio,” according to Amazon.com.
Matz, who has spoken in a couple of Memorial Day ceremonies in Ocean City and Somers Point, said he is working with Sun Rose Words & Music to set up a book signing for early summer. He also is planning a speaking engagement at the Ocean City Free Public Library. No dates have been set for either event.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff