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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly: Pending
WILLIAM CS SIMPSON * '46
No. 15787 * 21 Oct 1922 - 15 Jan 2001
Died in Charleston, SC * Interred in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston,
SC
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To summarize Bill Simpson's best military attributes,
the memories of Lieutenant General James F. Hollingsworth, then
(in 1966-67) Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Infantry
Division, are most appropriate: "A brave and courageous
commander whose leadership in combat inspired confidence in his
soldiers and success in battle. He led by example andhad no peers."
At the time Bill was commanding the 1st Battalion, 2d Infantry
in Vietnam.
William Craton Screven Simpson was born on 21 October 1922 in
Columbia, SC, son of William and May Bond Simpson. After graduating
in 1940 from high school in Columbia he attended the Citadel
in Charleston for 2 1/2 years, until he received his nomination
to West Point with the class of 1946. Roommate Miller Robinson
says "'Bub' was a true gentleman of the Old South"
and "at any close order drill Bub had a beautiful floating
gait and, as some said, a cup of coffee on his shoulder would
not spill a drop throughout an entire parade." After graduation
and the Infantry Basic Course Bill was assigned in 1947 to Korea,
where he served with the 20th and 1st Regiments of the 6th Infantry
Division.
Bill was back in the US as the war in Korea broke out. He volunteered
and found himself back in Korea with the 7th Infantry Division,
arriving via the Inchon Landings in September 1950. Shortly thereafter,
Bill's unit was sent south to Pusan and then shipped north to
land at Iwon on the east coast of North Korea. The 17th Infantry,
to include Bill's I Company, advanced to and along the Yalu River
boundary with Manchuria. As Chinese forces entered the conflict
the 7th Division was pulled back to the coast at Hungnam, evacuated
and then reinserted into the east central front and above the
38th Parallel. Probably the high point of the remainder of his
tour in Korea involved the seizure of Hill 1043. Bill's company
had assaulted the hill, taken casualties and very heavy fire
but were slowly when his battalion commander advised him to withdraw.
Knowing what adverse effect this would have on his unit's morale,
Bill persisted and his troops took the hill and watched the enemy
retreat down the far side. The company eventually was withdrawn,
but Bill received a Silver Star for his conduct of the battle.
His service in Korea earned Bill his first Combat Infantry Badge.
Upon return from Korea, BilI attended the Infantry Advanced Course,
was aide to LTG Almond and then was assigned to the staff and
faculty of the Infantry School. In July 1955, at Fort Benning
he married Mary "Mickey" McBroom, a partnership that
lasted over 45 years. Along the way Mickey and Bill produced
six children (Mary, Claudia, Jeanie, Screven, Jim and Robbie)
and were blessed with 13 grandchildren. It has been and remains
a closeknit family. After their marriage Bill served for two
years in Hawaii before attending the Command and General Staff
College and then attending Tulane University for an MBA. Three
years in the Pentagon within the office of Research and Development
were followed by attendance at the Army War College at Carlisle,
PA, graduating in 1965. After a year as an advisor in Iran, Bill
transferred to Vietnam in August 1966.
Bill was fortunate and was assigned to the Ist Infantry Division,
where he became Executive Officer, 2d Brigade. Three months into
this assignment the division commander, MG William E. DePuy,
plucked him out of the brigade with only overnight warning and
helicoptered him to the 1st Battalion, 2d Infantry. This battalion
had just taken punishing casualties and had a wounded commander
while participating In Operation Attleboro. Bill was in his "briar
patch" for the next nine months. He and his battalion participated
in Operation Cedar Falls and Junction City, both large air assault
operations, plus many other operations. For his service in Vietnam
Bill earned, among others, his second Combat Infantry Badge award,
a second Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, four awards
of the Legion of Merit and three awards of the Bronze Star for
Valor. One additional "award!' he received came after he
was charged and knocked down by an irate water buffalo. As he
was being charged for a second time the company commander present
shot and killed the "enemy"; Bill was presented with
the buffalo's horns mounted on an inscribed plaque.
After Vietnam Bill returned to Washington and served in the Office
of the comptroller of the Army before being selected to command
a brigade of the 24th Mechanized Division in Augsburg, Germany.
During his tenure the division was redesignated to become the
1st Infantry Division. Starting in 1970 Bill had successive 3-year
tours on the faculty of the Army War College: and then as Professor
of Military Science at Davidson College in North Carolina.
Upon retiring from active duty in 1976, Bill and his family settled
in Charleston, South Carolina. He entered the commercial real
estate business in the Charleston office of a regional company
but soon established his own company. He operated his company
with what might be called a variation on the West Point motto:
duty, honor and dogged determination. Although Bill remained
active in his business to the last, he eventually was diagnosed
with lung cancer. He fought the disease, with the same resolution
that he attacked Hill 1043 so many years before in Korea. He
successfully entered remission several times, but this time the
enemy bested him on 15 January 2001. West Point, the US Army
and the nation never have had a more stalwart and dedicated soldier
than Bill Simpson.
His family and a classmate
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