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The first time Thomas Mathers set foot inside an airplane, he was a high school football recruit flying to West Point for a campus visit. Decades later, after commanding Apache attack helicopters in the Gulf War and leading five biotechnology companies as chief executive, he still remembers the peculiar mixture of awe and purpose that gripped him as the aircraft lifted off the ground.
“I didn’t know much about the academy,” Mathers said during a recent interview. “I was being recruited to play football.”
That visit changed everything. Mathers would graduate from the United States Military Academy in 1988, become the first person in his family to enter military service and spend three years flying combat missions over Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
And on Nov. 11 at 10 a.m., he will speak inside Abbot Hall as the keynote for Marblehead’s Veterans Day ceremony — an honor that connects his military career, family history and civic involvement in a town he now calls home.
Mathers’ maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century and met while working as servants at 100 Harbor Avenue in Marblehead. His grandfather came from Sweden, his grandmother from Prince Edward Island. They settled on Commercial Street in the shipyard neighborhood, where his mother was born a Nyberg, a surname still scattered across town among cousins and distant relatives.
“My mother was very fond of it,” Mathers said. “She passed in 2017, but I came to Marblehead three or four times as a kid. I always loved the town.”
He moved here permanently in 2017 from Boxford, drawn by the same coastal charm that had captivated him as a child. But his journey from Virginia Beach to Marblehead passed through deserts and war zones that shaped his understanding of leadership, resilience and what communities owe to those who serve.
After graduating from West Point, Mathers was commissioned as a captain in Army aviation and trained to fly Apache attack helicopters. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, Mathers was alerted within 72 hours and deployed to Saudi Arabia. He would spend the next several months flying combat operations, first during the air campaign and later during the ground war, leading missions to destroy armored vehicles and conduct deep reconnaissance into Iraq.
“Our role was primarily to destroy armored vehicles of our adversaries,” Mathers said. “The Apache was designed to strike and kill armor primarily, but other soft targets as well.”
His platoon helped destroy the Hammurabi division of the Republican Guard before the cessation of hostilities. He also led missions to destroy early warning radar sites deep inside enemy territory. For his service, he was awarded the Air Medal, two Army Commendation Medals and an Army Achievement Medal.
When asked what military service taught him about leadership, Mathers did not hesitate.
“Things are always way harder than you expect,” he said. “They take longer than you expect. Something’s always going to happen. It’s going to change your plan two minutes in.”
He added, “It’s how you adapt in your leadership and build trust in your team so that people will follow you under these dynamic situations that really matter.”
That philosophy has guided his post-military career in biotechnology, where he has led companies developing treatments for rare pediatric diseases and served on corporate boards. Since 2021, he has also served on the Department of Veterans Affairs Research Advisory Committee, focusing on Gulf War veteran illnesses caused by toxic exposures including sarin gas, pesticides, diesel fuel and burn pits.
“We know that there was heavy exposure with pesticides, diesel fuel, burn pits, things of this nature,” Mathers said. “All of these have led to Gulf War veteran illnesses. ALS is higher in Gulf War deployed veterans.”
Mathers remains active with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, offering business expertise to support the organization’s future. He also participates in a national network of service academy graduates and business leaders who support Team USA in the Invictus Games, an international competition for wounded service members co-founded by Prince Harry, (whom he met with this year to discuss the organization’s work) .
West Point, he believes, made the difference in how he leads and how he speaks about service.
“I would say that West Point is the crucible of leadership development,” Mathers said. “From my experience, West Point does a remarkable job of shaping young men and women for a lifetime of leadership and servant leadership.”
When asked what role small towns like Marblehead can play in supporting veterans, Mathers spoke with uncharacteristic intensity about the need for visible remembrance.
“I think that a town like Marblehead would do best to remember who their veterans are, not only for the greatest generation,” he said, describing banners he saw in a Vermont town this summer featuring portraits of local veterans from World War II through the present day. “It breeds respect to our youngest generation.”
For Mathers, the invitation to speak carries personal resonance. His grandparents built a life here as immigrants. His mother carried memories of this town throughout her life. Now he represents both Marblehead’s history and its living connection to service.
“There’s this incredible humility with all veterans,” Mathers said. “That’s what being a veteran is.“
The Veterans Day ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at Abbot Hall. The program will open with greetings and remarks from Veterans Services Officer Roseann Trionfi-Mazzuchelli, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer from VFW Chaplain James Full. Select Board Chair Moses Grader will read the Governor’s Proclamation, and the Marblehead Chorus, conducted by Colleen Inglis, will perform “America the Beautiful.”
VFW Commander Ronald Knight will introduce Mathers as keynote speaker before Dave Rodgers presents the Medal of Fidelity honoring veterans who have died as a result of their service. The ceremony will continue with the reading of the honor roll, a second prayer by Chaplain Full, the playing of Taps by John Collins and performances of “The National Anthem” and “Marblehead Forever” by the chorus. A moment of silence will close the program before final remarks from Trionfi-Mazzuchelli and Knight.
To view the full schedule of Veterans Day events across Marblehead, click here. Get the latest from The Marblehead Independent delivered straight to your inbox.
