The Wall › Panel 33W › Arizona › Billy Joe Simmons
BILLY JOE SIMMONS
Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 4, 1946 – January 29, 1969
Service recordBilly Joe Simmons, of Phoenix, Arizona, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 29, 1969, in Laos, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 33W, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 33W · Line 17
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Radio Operator (05B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- May 4, 1946
- Home of record
- Phoenix, Arizona (Maricopa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 29, 1969
- Age
- 22
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
33 names on the Wall carry the date January 29, 1969. In January 1969, 985 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 15 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 33W, Line 17
- DAN LAVERNE JENKINSLance Corporal · January 29, 1969
- SAMUEL RODRIQUEZPrivate First Class · January 29, 1969
- ROBERTO ANDRESS ROMEROCorporal · January 29, 1969
- REYNALDO SOZASpecialist Four · January 29, 1969
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES DORIAN BULLARDStaff Sergeant · Panel 33W, Line 12
- LARRY ALLAN STEPHENSSergeant · Panel 33W, Line 18
From Phoenix
- DURWARD DEAN GOSNEYMajor · October 7, 1964
- CHARLES ALVA DALEMajor · June 9, 1965
- WILBURN DANIEL FELKINSCorporal · July 30, 1965
- LEE E ANDERSONSergeant · September 19, 1965
- DERRELL BLACKBUR JEFFORDSColonel · December 24, 1965
- JOHNNY HOWARD GODFREYCaptain · January 11, 1966
- GEORGE A HOAGLAND IIIStaff Sergeant · January 29, 1966
- JACK LANDEN HIMESPrivate First Class · February 26, 1966
- ROY JOHN HIGGINS JRCorporal · March 5, 1966
- DARRELL LEE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · March 5, 1966
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.