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Joseph Mason ‘Jay’ Massaro was
born at Fort Sill, OK on January 22, 1931 to Captain Joseph Massaro
(USMA 1924) and Kate Lancaster Massaro, great-granddaughter of John
Sanford Mason (USMA 1847). The birth of Jay’s brother David (USMA
ex-1959) in 1936 completed the family.
At the age of ten Jay began a lifelong passion of
collecting military insignia, a collection which grew impressively
in size and scope over time.
A typical Army brat, Jay lived in many places in
addition to Fort Sill: Fort Sam Houston, TX; Fort Knox, KY; Battle
Creek, MI and Alexandria, LA, where he attended Bolton High School.
Jay’s activities in high school included achieving Eagle rank in the
Boy Scouts, writing a weekly feature column for the school newspaper
and school news for the town newspaper, and being recognized as a
sharpshooter by the National Rifle Association while a member of his
high school rifle club.
Following his high school graduation in 1948, Jay
attended Sullivan Preparatory School in Washington, DC. Then, with a
congressional appointment from Senator W.C. Feazel of Louisiana, Jay
entered West Point with the Class of 1953 and joined the ranks of
Company I-1. Subsequently turned back by the Department of Physical
Education, Jay joined the Class of 1954 on August 30, 1951 and was
assigned to Company D-2.
During his cadet years Jay was humor editor of the Pointer magazine,
and that aspect of his personality appeared in his many articles.
Those articles kept many cadets entertained, especially during Gloom
Period. Some may remember the short items penned by that black cat “Pyrene.”
That was Jay. In addition to his funny articles, some antics were
attributed to him while a cadet. One that some will recall was the
clock he had placed under a plebe’s full dress hat. Its loud alarm
went off while cadets were quietly standing at attention on the
Plain waiting to Pass in Review.
Upon graduation, Jay attended the Basic Armor
Officers Course at Fort Knox, KY. He married Jean Peterson in
Bloomfield, NJ in December 1954. Their family ultimately consisted
of three sons: Steven, born in Texas in 1955; Alan, born in Kentucky
in 1958; and Paul, born in Germany in 1962.
Jay’s initial overseas assignment was in Korea.
Following a subsequent assignment to the Armor School at Fort Knox,
he was sent to Germany in 1962 for duty with the 4th Armored
Division. Upon the family’s return to the States in 1964, Jay
transferred to the Adjutant General Corps with an assignment to the
Army Institute of Heraldry at Fort Belvoir, VA, where he stayed
until 1966. For the next three years, Jay was assigned to the Army
Standardization Group in the United Kingdom. Next he spent 1969 to
1970 in Vietnam with the 1st Logistic Command and the AG Support
Command. Jay returned to the United States for an assignment with
the Mobility Equipment Command, St. Louis, MO for a couple of years
before he was sent to Headquarters, Allied Forces Southeastern
Europe in Naples, Italy, near his father’s birthplace. His last
assignment was at Headquarters, 5th Army, and he retired as a
lieutenant colonel in 1975.
During his military assignments, Jay was awarded the
Commendation Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Bronze Star
Medals and the Legion of Merit. These awards reflect on Jay’s
outstanding contributions in the service for his country.
Following retirement, Jay enrolled at Southwest Texas
State University, graduating with an MBA in 1976. He spent the
following four years as the Personnel Director of Temple-Eastex,
Inc., followed by six years as Vice President of Personnel at the
Lumbermen’s Investment Corporation in Austin, TX. In 1984, he and
his wife, Jean, separated after 30 years of marriage.
In 1987, Jay’s hobby led to writing and publishing a
book, Distinctive
Insignia of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1924-1947. Jay
documented a period in U.S. Air Force history during which
distinctive insignia were authorized. In 1947 the Air Force
discontinued the authorization. Jay’s book preserves the history of
those units through their distinctive insignia.
Jay’s insignia collection eventually totaled roughly
11,000 pieces. His offer to donate the collection to the West Point
Museum was unsuccessful due to its very large size. His sons
eventually placed the collection on loan to the Texas Military
Forces Museum in Austin, TX, which released the following statement:
“Colonel Massaro’s collection is without a doubt one of the most
stunning collections of United States military insignia in the
entire world. One of the greatest joys of having this remarkable
material in the museum is watching veterans search for their unit’s
insignia and seeing the absolute delight on their faces when they
find it and a wealth of memories come flooding over them. We have
people from all over the world come to Austin just to see this
collection.”
Jay Massaro was an Army brat, father, grandfather,
writer, humorist and businessman whose life brought many fond and
vivid memories to his family, classmates and friends.
— Family and classmates |
