Not in the Battle - Still a Lucky Vet

HUBERT DOUGLAS “Bud” SIMMONS, born January 12, 1926 at Linton, Trigg County, KY, was drafted in the United States Army, June 15, 1945.    Simmons was inducted at Louisville

HUBERT DOUGLAS “Bud” SIMMONS, born January 12, 1926 at Linton, Trigg County, KY, was drafted in the United States Army, June 15, 1945.

 

 

  Simmons was inducted at Louisville, KY and traveled to Camp Blanding, Jacksonville, FL, for basic training.  During machinegun qualification, a buzzard flew through the target area.  All sixty gunners fired at the bird, but when cease-fire was called, it flew away without losing a single feather.

 

 

  Upon completion of basic training, Simmons was assigned to Camp Blanding as a Military Policeman with Headquarters Detachment Section 1, 1448 SCU PW Camp, guarding German POWs.  Following reassignment to Camp Bell Haven POW Camp, Miami, FL, he returned to Camp Blanding, where he was honorably discharged on March 25, 1946, to enlist in the Regular Army.

 

 

  Simmons traveled to Camp Atterbury, IN for reassignment to Fort Lawton, Seattle, WA for advanced Infantrymen training.  On July 5, 1946, eleven months after the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Simmons sailed on the ship, Marine Serpent, to Japan.  During the voyage, the ship encountered a violent typhoon.  Seawater filled the bottom compartments, nearly capsizing the ship.

 

 

  After arriving in Yokohama, on July 18, 1946, Simmons graduated from Paratrooper School.  In August 1946, he was assigned to Headquarters Company, 188 PIR, 11^th Airborne Division in Sendai, Japan.  During parachute training, the airplane’s engine failed.  Following a safe landing, the airplane reloaded with other passengers.  During takeoff, it crashed killing all 23 aboard.

 

 

  Completing an assignment in Fukuoka, PFC Simmons returned to Sendai as a telephone operator.  The Battalion consisted of six individuals: a Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Sargent and himself.

 

 

  Simmons departed Japan on February 21, 1947 and his ship once again encountered a typhoon.  He sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on March 3, 1947.  After processing through Oakland Airbase, CA, he was sent to Fort Sheridan, IL for discharge on March 28, 1947.

 

 

  Simmons returned to Trigg County where he married Ruth Janelle Rogers, March 27, 1947.  They have two daughters, Shirley R. Ezell (who is the Traffic Manager at the Installation Transportation Division, Fort Campbell, KY) and Brenda Thompson, six grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

 

 

  After four years of farming in Trigg County, Simmons moved his family to Christian County, KY, where he worked as a carpenter for the Meacham family, building houses and repairing barns until his retirement in 1988.  He and his wife currently reside in Hopkinsville, KY.  His interests include listening to music, gardening, fishing and hunting.

 

 

  Simmons was licensed to preach by Julien Baptist Church on December 23, 1956.  In addition to serving as assistant/interim pastor at several churches, he has conducted services at the Brookfield Manor Nursing Home every Wednesday night from December 1967 until June 2003.

 

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