Simmons was born June 7, 1923 in Geneva County, Alabama. He enlisted within the U.S. Navy from Mississippi on the age of 17 and was stationed aboard the united statesCalifornia to serve in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
On December 7, 1941 the united statesCalifornia got here beneath assault from Japanese forces. The Tennessee-class battleship suffered a number of torpedo and bomb strikes which prompted it catch hearth and slowly flood. Simmons and 103 different crew members had been killed throughout the notorious assault.
From December 1941 to April 1942, Navy personnel recovered the stays of the deceased from the a number of vessels all through Pearl Harbor together with Simmons. At the moment, he couldn’t be recognized and was buried as unknown stays on the Nationwide Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Following unsuccessful efforts over time, in 2018, the stays of 25 unidentified casualties from the united statesCalifornia had been exhumed and transferred to the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company (DPAA) laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor. Advances in forensic expertise led to the profitable identification of SEA2 Simmons from among the many disinterred stays.
On June 14, 2022, Simmons was laid to relaxation subsequent to his dad and mom at Nook Creek Methodist Church Cemetery in Hacoda, Al. His title is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Fee’s Courts of the Lacking on the Punchbowl, together with the others who’re lacking from WWII. A rosette shall be positioned subsequent to his title to point he has lastly been accounted for.
