Patricia Simmons and Carlyle Simmons

Recorded July 28, 2020 Archived July 27, 2020 40:14 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: ddv000056

Description

Carlyle "Buck" Simmons (74) speaks with his wife Patricia "Patty" Simmons (74) sharing memories of his experiences as a Marine helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War.

Subject Log / Time Code

BS recalls deciding to be a Marine "because I'm a coward." BS remembers Platoon Leaders School, and PS remembers planning their marriage during that time.
BS remembers heading to flight school after getting married, and getting certified to fly airplanes and helicopters, including getting lost in the Gulf of Mexico.
BS shares memories from flying helicopters with his friend Jack, and remembers crashing in Vietnam. BS remembers having operations on his back, and using the internet to find old friends.
BS remembers heading to Vietnam and missing the Fourth of July, and being stationed in Okinawa beforehand.
BS speaks about being assigned to fly Cobra Helicopters and becoming a division leader. BS remembers his first combat mission.
BS recalls flying on a night-time medivac mission, and the fear he felt that night. PS and BS speak about R&R days, and BS remembers drinking in the officers' club.
BS and PS reflect on some of BS's scariest memories, being shot down.
They speak about keeping in touch with other Marines and going to reunions. BS remembers the second time he was shot down in a monsoon, almost drowning in a rice paddy. BS recalls another medivac mission.
PS reflects on hearing BS's stories over the years, and appreciating his sense of humor. PS remembers waiting for BS to come home, and they share gratitude with each other.

Participants

  • Patricia Simmons
  • Carlyle Simmons

Partnership

Partnership Type

Outreach

Transcript

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00:00 That examines and I've been friends for 52 years. We were married before he went to Vietnam.

00:10 And I've probably heard of most of the stories that he's going to go into today. I have two children.

00:17 And five grandchildren and

00:20 We've been very blessed with our family and friends and don't you think so, my name is blocks women's on 74 today's dates, July 28th, 2020 and where in North Carolina, my interview partner is Patty. My wife is 52 years still my girlfriend.

00:44 And I guess we're ready to go.

00:49 You wanted to you knew early on that you wanted to join the Marine Corps?

00:56 You had already promised to join the Marine Corps before we even mad. So I feel like I was there from the beginning but could you tell us about we were both at the University of Delaware? And can you tell us about that decision be made back then best training. There's one of my best chance of staying alive.

01:24 So a fraternity brother by Bill Tracy and I want to see the marine recruiter recruiter who showed up on campus and we interviewed with him and both of us volunteered for the Marine Corps 19 1966. And I remember remember the recruiter telling me he flew fa and it's about 60 feet long. It's all engine. The pilot says way up in the front and has 420 mm Cannon carries Rockets. It's just a wonderful 2.2 aircraft so fast it has shot itself down before.

02:06 So I really wanted to fly a Saints and and my recruiter looked at me nice and son I can see you in the cockpit of an f8 right now knowing full well what the f--- ate it already been retired by that.

02:22 So I found that out later on in that kind of gave me a grain of salt than the rest for the rest of my career.

02:29 I think that I love that part because we're so many people tell similar stories about Recruiters in your case. It worked out really, well. You got to do what you want to do. I got you a part of it.

02:50 The first

02:53 But you went and did anything like a training was between the junior year and Senior year of our College day and you went to the something called platoon leaders class and I was a combination of boot camp and OCS if you made it to get your commission of Lieutenant, once you graduated from college. Everybody made it through just about half a bar.

03:23 56 people were washed out at one time or another to the question of the class was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

03:35 But I remember when when I was waiting for you to come and pick me up and I was just the slop Chute next to her bakst kind of undress bar and my company gunny and my D I were in there and invited me to have a beer with an ex was unheard of and when I got up to leave when you showed up out front the company gun. He said we'll take care of yourself Marie and it was the first time anybody had called me Marine. I saw John Wayne and flag and replying. Oh my goodness. I still get chills thinking about it.

04:11 I of course was concentrating on a marriage together, but we I did I was very lucky that I was able to be part of all your

04:23 Ideas about the rain and what she wanted to do it and we've met wonderful people but we went to Pensacola and we still keep in touch with many many people and that was a wonderful thing for me also.

04:46 Patty graduated before you graduated before I did once or so earlier.

04:52 Remember I graduated on a Saturday. I got my commission the following Tuesday. We are married the very next Saturday jumping our 10-year old car and headed off to Pensacola Flight School.

05:06 Weather in friendship

05:13 What stands out in your mind about play school now that we're there?

05:19 Flight school cost a difficult. And again, we watched a lot of people going to Pensacola people just went stupid for flight. I remember how difficult it was to learn how to fly so we work really hard at it that long. We're learning how to fly from time to time. They will put on these movies to show us get us oriented towards different aircraft my buddy Greg and I wanted to fly a Ford single-seat jet cuz the FH were gone. We wanted to fly 1/4 and single seat attached yet. It was one of her to mainside administration building in the movie theater and they put on a movie about the 84 and Greg and I are all excited.

06:02 So we watch this movie and then they show the movie of the 8th War flying into an area of operation single-seat jet again. There's a radar system called a t p q 1080p Q10 picked up a day for as it flew into the area of operation took over control today for flu, the A4 over the Target and drop the bomb Greg and I looked at each other in a we work training to let a radar operator flyer aircraft. So he and I were just kind of went along to our cells are the one on the front lawn.

06:41 And there is an old age 34 sitting in the front lawn at Maitland and they climbed up the other side of the cockpit to get a chance to talk and we looked at the instrument panel and white in the battle. There is a placard and the placard says caution side. What is there a speed limit on I-35 and Craig and I looked at each other and sit sideways and we were up for helicopter takes life. And I found out we were pregnant the same day. So we just go already and it's a lot more about what's going on with you know, but getting her wings was a very big deal.

07:35 It was and when we got our wings, then we got our wings at both text One Pilots and helicopter Pilots over dual certified.

07:48 In fact, we're also certified as carrier pilots that I remembered that they were supposed to land on the carrier than very first time to make a qualification Landings. The last thing I did was listen to the navigation free which was how do you find this aircraft carrier out the Gulf of Mexico every time you operate off of carrier. Somebody gets hurt or dies.

08:25 I was the number two guy in the second division going out that day. So I knew I had just follow my lead or follow the first of it isn't it wasn't going to be a problem and it wasn't a problem until the second generation took the runway and took off. So we lift it off 5 to 28 engine roaring Carpenter open the Arizona plane is like John Wayne and Dad work and we got Airborne we all formed up with a stacked up on the wing and formation at flying out towards the Gulf of Mexico and my league couldn't get his Gear Up landing gear was stuck. So we flew around Southern Alabama for about 10 or 15 minutes. We flew upside down and ear would come up negative cheese and a gear wouldn't come up.

09:13 So finally he kissed a song and went back to the base cuz I know you. You can't fly around so all of a sudden and all I knew was this aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Mexico. That's all I know weird about 1,500 feet flying south and would run into bad weather and lower and lower on my way and it struck me.

09:49 I'm not talking to anybody because I don't want to embarrass myself. But I've got four other pilot or depending upon me to find the carrier and not slime into the ground. So I called the aircraft carrier and I got a really nice here and tell me what bearing to pick up and we flew out to the car and I'll buy this time. I was just shuttering I shaking so bad. We got it Charli pattern and I cannot be back made my first touch and go they took off again. Now, it's going to make my final my first trap. So I lowered my tail hook and I just literally shaking cuz I so scared the wind was blowing through the cockpit Turkish lineup out of the cockpit Griezmann. The engine was flying back in the system horrible thing, and I knew I was going to die in the next 15 seconds.

10:49 And I I want to point out that I picked up the three wire with an absolute best and I sitting here in three wire and just shuttering.

11:01 Somebody's taking part of life sailor ran out from the island and it pointed his camera with my carpet and all of a sudden again. I was John Wayne if I had a few Lord, I would have thrown it out the Windstream guy where he is today save my life. I never had trouble landing on a cat RF everybody the family.

11:33 When

11:35 Rubicon later there comes a time when you have to solo and our best friend Jack and we lost them 2 years ago.

11:46 Is Godfather to one of our children and he was wonderful and you together. I mean the very best friend to flight school as you know, and we were neck-and-neck all the way through so much trouble can time and helicopters for us to some of it together now backing up to her first helicopter flight we went to this huge feels about two miles on a side and we first tried to learn how to fly we couldn't keep it in that to my Longfield now, they're sending us out the solo together. Is that a helicopter? I've got a second pilot. So Jack and I went out for a very first independent helicopter flight together. We normally do diminishing touching girls. We heard around as we were hovering what came up against one side of the field that there is a major

12:43 Traffic artery out there and there's a stoplight in this Corvette was sitting at the stoplight. And what time is it up to the side? And look at the Corvette Jack like cars Corvette gundy's jackpot collected when it jumped up in the air Jack dump the notice on the jet Ranger. We took off where drag racing a Corvette. We got faster and faster. We got 5679 89th. And that's where the blue lights in the police car came on and pull the Corvette over and shut the race down right then. We just got our tail number.

13:33 So they are they were having Jack is always having fun.

13:43 And I just in here.

13:48 How did you keep up with everybody? How did you make that possible that you kept in touch with people like Jack and tall and and skipping ahead someone.

14:03 I had several crashes in Vietnam and compress my spine quite a bit and they repair that I've heard the Veterans Administration jobs laid up for years while my back yoga and the internet allowed me to catch up with people of Jack and Tom and I are the three of us always stay together. Greg also, but we were able to catch up with other guys when you can so close in Vietnam. It's really hard to put into words Jack and I are always closed. What is let's go we want to answer the replacement air group to the rag and North Carolina, and then we got orders to Vietnam together, and we actually went to Vietnam on the second set of orders and started in the same Squadron flying together for a year.

14:59 Are commercial flight going from Philadelphia to Vietnam together? So

15:11 What Arrangements were made for this together? Also Jack flew down from from Rhode Island to Philadelphia where we met.

15:20 And I had a few drinks and stir up her courage and leaving Patty and a trick for the first time for a major 13 months absence was very difficult, but we got on the Jeff together and

15:36 Japanese smooth talker immediately started talking to Stewart is is out of all the liquor on the airplane. It was flew to Los Angeles and then up to Anchorage, Alaska.

15:48 From Alaska we flew to Okinawa and in doing so across the International Date Line. We left on July 3rd of 1970. We arrived on July 5th of 1972 on our way to war we skip the 4th of July all together.

16:08 Talk about irony. Yes, that's definitely before you went into Vietnam you went to will win with wanted in Fatima, which is the intermediate staging area have to get used to being in the Far East the heat presser. So we were assigned to this Quonset hut weather 14 other lieutenants on the way to Vietnam and smells were just Indescribable taxes black. Follow me. We're going to kadena Air Force Base. So we went to Cadena when she checked in is transient officer's and they did it at each our own air condition Motel r o water refrigerator in a television set and I heard about London Airport.

17:08 Are in the Creature Comforts anyway.

17:16 After you you are how long they're there for a week seven days and then you get off a jack when a little bit after I did we're on the same set of Warriors. And at that time when you came in and multiple people on a set of orders, they would take every other guy instead of the Vietnam and every other guy to keep him in, Okinawa.

17:45 So it's a good chance. That means you're going to Vietnam in Okinawa. I'm a bachelor this man married with a child and she said and have them stay here and Okinawa.

18:09 Well, the powers-that-be really didn't understand tax plea. They said we're spending every other man. You're only every other man who stays here. I'm so weak later. I was in Vietnam and visit us many times and because we have two children and our children have heard all the stories even when they were little and and they started calling him crazy. Uncle jack is a wonderful person.

18:48 So you definitely did not together with you.

18:59 Daily stuff that you did two points to make I think about going to Vietnam. I was assigned to fly cobras and hmla-367 HML means helicopter Marine light and flying cobras was

19:19 Wild tour. That's what I did. The Cobra is 36 in wide by three feet across such a very very narrow. There are positions we can hang to Rocket pots in the very nose of the aircraft. There's a turret 40 mm Cannon and 7.62 millimeter minigun. So the thing was just loaded with Firepower the pilot said in tandem first pilot would sit in the rear and a copilot wouldn't sit up in the front cockpit. So we are in line together.

20:01 So we need to know how the cobra looks like it happen operates in our job was to keep other Marines alive include Jack where the finest Marines I've ever met that made me want to be a better brain and made me want to be a better pilot.

20:23 Everybody starts off as a co-pilot fly in the front seat when you learned enough about

20:30 Wanted to talk about test to see if you can find the back seat after you float in the back seat for a while. You learn enough to test it to see if he could take over as a second later charged to do not long enough and then you're tested again. Then you're up for being a flight later. We may fly with for cobras or transport helicopters later on in Maine become a division winner and I want from co-pilot to division leader must Eric ripert I ever had and was 32 aircraft when we put 1300 men in place on mountains and I was responsible for Planning Commission coordinated gun cover.

21:21 What's the weather like that sort of stuff to the study but early on but I remember my first combat Mission as fly rod fix and Recon 1010 down a little spit of land up in the valley. They were being shot at from the jungle. So we started for the rockets in the jungle and I, look at pictures of catfish. Look at all those colorful birds coming up out of the Jungle Catfish called me a loser tracers and muzzle flashes and start shooting black Mighty quick.

22:04 That was my first introduction up in the copilot's seat. We had a mobile sites that independent and two hands and a thumb buttons controlled or in a millimeter in triggers control the minigun. You can swivel through 210 degrees.

22:30 I've been told by some of the troops on the ground that we met that they really like to see.

22:37 Carpenter come in because they usually help them a great deal to get all the helicopters to take them away.

22:47 AAA RI missions would entail rescuing people who have been down so our job was to fold prefold. Really the first is to separate people in the bad guys from the good guys. And then the second part would be to protect the

23:08 Troop carriers. Will they wanted to get the good guys out? And then the third would be to take as many enemy out as best. We could this happened Time After Time. The one that has won the most installing metal guy with a brain would be wanted in the field or get sick in the field. We go out with a troop carriers and bring them home and take him to the hospital or take place of safety.

23:34 My introduction to night Medevac this line is a co-pilot for guy named Dave coming. They was a real hero not only on that door by the previous tours. We were flying a Medevac one night out in the nun Sun Valley Vietnam at night doesn't have a lot of big cities. There's not a lot of white any words as soon as black as the inside of a coal mine went around the non song, but I want an older man winning way down deep in the sun Barrel Valley and the valley walls with straight up on either side and winter Lion Circle cover the Medevac extraction.

24:20 At Weis in a circle. I can see Lee's reflecting in our anti-collision lights. We were that close to the walls of the valley.

24:30 A sedated. How was your day? You can fly in this Valley at night and not fly into a canyon wall and after a while you just sort of remember where things are.

24:44 And it wasn't until about six months later that I really understood what it was like a year before. I I didn't hear about that part. We had trouble.

25:00 Communicating we could write letters to each other and I even sent the tapes and I talked to you twice I think on the on the Mars telephone, but it wasn't like now when you could Skype with each other and hold a computer up and then see somebody's face and I think maybe it was better because I want to see my scared face in the tears running down my chat Wendy why he didn't call any such a kind of stories about people that weren't in the Marine Corps have a husband.

25:42 Tell us the car story with genie in the Officers Club.

25:51 If your wife calls while you're in the Officers Club, you have to buy the bar. So we had a thing called R&R rest and recuperation. Whatever you want to call it. You can meet your wife for a week as you go pretty much anywhere you wanted to go in Hawaii friends of ours Charlie and Candy love you are still friends to this day. We lost Charlie.

26:17 They were going to go to Australia and Jenny was a flight attendant. So she got the fly4free wherever she wanted to go. She was flying to Australia to meet Charlie and she got as far as Hong Kong and had a layover and sheets at work. I'm in Hong Kong. It's close to Vietnam Charlie. So she called me down in the Saigon and said looking for lieutenant. What is he went? And she said he's with hmla-367 out of marble Mountain patch up your name Pastor over to Marble Mountain the duty officer marblemount said, he's in 367. I'll pass this to the Squadron. It wasn't there is up in the bar. So did the officer at at our Squadron?

27:08 Call the bar. And I remember I was in the bar at the time. I remember the club manager got all the intercom and said Lieutenant love Lieutenant. Love you have a call at a club office. It's your wife gets mad at men 400 pounds. What nuts cuz we got a free drink on Charlie.

27:32 I knew better. The scariest stories for me when you came home and

27:43 Over the years or more stories came out where the two times you were shot down and that was in the first the first time as line Medevac again out of a LZ baldy baldy was where the 5th Marines were headquartered and are about 45 minutes flight from Marble Mountain. So anytime we supported them 30-45 minutes delay could cost a lot. So everyday we stay to covers to transport down a LG Bowling Supply Michigan's inserts extracts.

28:24 Better back so we can bail is a pilot in command as gen II or + 10 is one of my heroes. I try to emulate try to be like there's a patrol on Ross. The patrol has been ambushed and had a wooden rain. So we won't have to get out of this said we're taking fire from the door Under the Stars.

28:58 We started make it rocket runs on the north side of their position with pull off to the South and we were climbing out and all the sudden everything got very quiet and exploded. We think we took a bullet to the engine while orientation. You're almost sure it died. But Jim is such a good pilot. It got us on the ground. We landed hard enough to cut the tail before but we are still alive talk about it. So we jumped out of the aircraft and on the nose of the aircraft about a hundred and twenty Treeline the tree line opened up and what I now recognize this mobile flash. I have learned something.

29:43 Ray Norton Landon this transport helicopter stop to Rice patties away from us and from my perspective while we're being shot at might have been four hundred miles. I don't know rice in Spanish when hand 50 caliber gun are opened up and he was given us covering fire. So the 50 cal we're going one way the bad guys were shooting from the other way. Jim and I were shooting our pistols over their shoulders and run as fast as we could jump on ready transport started shooting up the song by the left that I was on his right?

30:23 45 gesture the rights every time I draw be with my 45 want to just bullet casings bounce off my health.

30:33 We took off with lift it up to about 500 ft. I thought you know, we might finally lose to this. This is looking good and Ray were right back down and landed again because I thought the matter back to get the Medevac call him into a firefight made sense to get us out of the firefight thing. It's another black man. He lived and so did well well lives happily ever after I still talk to Ray and whenever I do I say thanks for coming to get us right always heard. It wasn't any trouble you were on my way.

31:13 That when you say talking to it's not the telephone you over the computer computer has been a blessing to see these guys again.

31:28 Yes, some of us of Colorado come a little weight.

31:34 We're still the same old guys the next time I want down I was flying with the captain.

31:43 Arch Ratliff

31:47 We took off on a Medevac Mission Again.

31:51 And we're flying out the monsoon. It was raining like crazy and it rained inside of the cockpit topic leaked the water sugar circuited are our radios. And if you don't have a contact by raydio, you can't shoot what they have clearance to shoot return back to head back to Marvel Mountain you get another aircraft flying back here about eight hundred feet and about a hundred and twenty knots and when the aircraft shook twist to the side something passed us on the left. It was our 300 knots in my life by order Route 81 and rice, paddy.

32:44 After my first shoot down with all I have is two lousy pistol. I used to carry band leaders of ammunition submachine gun and sort of other weaponry and I jumped out of the aircraft with all the stuff on it and almost drowned in flooded rice paddy our right to the bar on my way back up when we hit me hit so hard that it bent the throttle linkage the engine off. Went back to the oil cooler access door, which is guarded by a thick metal grate. I hit it with my rifle butt and I broke my rifle but ends in school until we're drive shaft linkage line.

33:25 I have the guard with my system dentist enough to where I could get my left hand Interpol the throttle on not your hand me about the whole thing. I remember this great big smile through the windscreen coming in to pick up the Hot Shot Cobra files a practical shots and I got clean clothing that threw away all my stuff. I've been in the right Maddie and then they sent me back out to look for that tail rotor electel order was a whole different zip code. It was gone.

34:16 I wandered around for an hour and a half out there all by myself with a rifle and Bad Guy character wonder when the shooting would start cuz where they finally came and got me. So, you know that was a bad idea to this day. No one would know who gave the order to shut me out.

34:38 Couple things that really stood out to me Jack and I one day.

34:44 Jack and I were flying a night Medevac down there a place named high-end and normally our tactics would be the two cobras when flying a circle one Cobra on the opposite side.

35:00 A hundred eighty degrees out. That way we can give 360 degree coverage for the transport helicopter with a real heroes.

35:10 Norway then the transport helicopter when everything was ready to transport helicopter go down through the middle of that orbit and I passed through our orbit B turn all the lights out so he wouldn't get shot sometime just quote day. If you can remember where things were you could sense things were going to happen and that night I sent something bad was going to happen. So I had to I had the 46 is the transports and then flying in an orbit with our light setup to look like cobras. I went down to the middle of their orbit with all my lights blazing Landing lights everything everything on high and Jack came down right behind it will all those lights turned off. What I want to do is Tripper that ambushed when there's going to be one and jacket back at me to take care of the animal sure enough.

36:01 Got down low over the Zone looks like all my lights on and search license Woodfire open up both sides. I heard Jack Em Up on the radio that don't worry. I took care of it in shawna's rock us to the left and the parents are the right wiped out the Ambush site so we can bring the transports in the pickup for wounded Marine get them out of there.

36:27 Yeah, it took a long time. I've heard all these stories but not at all at once. It's hard to get everything in. I mean cuz I was thinking

36:40 Remember when and

36:44 It's just so much and the Marines had such a way of making everything in.

36:51 I got to spend like laughing at themselves and the people are missing you all in with loss and many of people who are meaningful to us over the years and it has a lot more storage, but but not much more time.

37:23 There's a place called the Arizona territory and we call it that because whenever you want to the Arizona you sure to get into a gunfight.

37:32 There was a fellow who had a a militia Force down there. The Arizona is unit was called in golf cup and we was golf cup sex.

37:42 The Arizona was one of the places that the NBA unlimited materials from the Chi Minh trail. So they guarded jealously because he was hard up by the Arizona. He was always in trouble and always asking for gun cover. So we stopped a lot for golf cup six more came back home. We had to go down to the river near near Camp Lejeune, and we all decided we have a reunions. So people flew in from Hawaiian Pendleton and we all stay with Charlie and Ginny love and slept on the floor.

38:19 One night. We thought we could go over to Camp was Jenna to go to the o clock over there. So we're sitting around a big table and talking and telling stories and

38:27 Just having a really good time and just fell off of a table in back of this leaned over need to tap you on the shoulder and he said that I hear the name Scarface over there. And you said yes, these guys are all Scarface Pilots will a man stood up and he said I'm golf cart a wonderful coincidence cuz you already told me about 6, so I even knew what he was talking when things got really bad for us. We said it could be worse we could be Golf and he finally traced him to the internet you finally found them, but he

39:13 Takes awhile sometime to track down people.

39:18 And

39:22 I just remember it's a huge shoosh lawn here.

39:27 Being away from you, but I just knew you were coming back and I was surprised that I didn't you know, a lot of good support actually wasn't concerned about I was concerned about not coming home to you.

39:47 That was I mean, there's lots more stories that you could tell I think we're wrapping it up and I thank you for thank you for putting up with me all the time.