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15787 COL William C. Simpson USA, Retired
October 21, 1922 - January 15, 2001

usma1946-D2

 

 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

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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