Arthur David "Bull" Simons
Colonel, U.S. Army

Arthur David Simons was born on 28 June 1918 in New York, NY, and moved to Missouri in his youth. He attended the University of Missouri-Columbia and majored in Journalism, entering the U.S. Army ROTC program there in 1937.
Military Career:
Simons was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch on 10 June 1941, and was initially assigned to the 98th Field Artillery Battalion, a part of one of the Army's pack mule units (the 347 mules being used to carry the 75mm Pack Howitzer M1, the lightest American artillery piece in WWII). In his first assignment as a Platoon Leader, the new Lieutenant was so quiet and reserved (he later said he wanted to learn from the sergeants that seemed to know their business well) that one of his sergeants came to believe that Simons was a mute.
The unit was dispatched to Australia, but immediately diverted to New Guinea in the early stages of World War II, and Simons thrived in the harsh jungle environment. He was soon promoted to Captain and served as a Battery Commander in the Battalion from 1942-43. The mules themselves did not prove suitable in the jungle, and the unit was dissolved in 1943. Simons took his Battery to the newly forming Ranger Battalion that would come out of the dissolution of his old unit. He soon became the commander of "B" (Baker) Company and later the Battalion Executive Officer (XO) of the 6th Ranger Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci. Simons participated in several hazardous landings with the Rangers in the Pacific. He led a team of engineers and Navy personnel tasked to de-mine the Leyte Channel before the invasion of the Island began in earnest. On Luzon in the Philippines, he participated in the Raid at Cabanatuan that rescued approximately 500 POWs who were mostly survivors of the Bataan Death March. (For his actions in the raid, he was awarded the Silver Star.) He quickly rose to the rank of Major and continued to prove his worth as a combat leader. At the conclusion of the Second World War, Major Simons left the active Army for five years.
Simons was recalled to active duty in 1951 to serve as an Infantry Instructor and Ranger Trainer in the Amphibious and Jungle Training camp at Eglin AFB, FL. Other assignments included a year as a Public Information Officer (PIO, now "Public Affairs Officer" or PAO) at Ft. Bragg, NC, a job that he despised (he held a low opinion of the media, one that would prove itself in later years and assignments. "The press hasn't done very well for the American soldier," he would later remark.) Simons also completed tours with the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Turkey and XVIII Airborne Corps before joining the 77th Special Forces Group in 1958.
In 1960, he served as Deputy Commander/Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Special Warfare Center. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1961, he commanded the 107-man Operation White Star Mobile Training Team in Laos from 1961-62 and was the first Commander of the 8th Special Forces Group, Panama from 1962-64. From Panama, he was assigned to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), which conducted numerous behind-the-line missions in Southeast Asia.
In 1970, Simons was hand-picked to be the ground commander of Operation Ivory Coast, a joint special operations effort to rescue American prisoners of war from the Son Tay prison in North Vietnam. Here is what happened on that day, 21 November 1970.
Colonel Simons voluntarily participated as a member of a Joint Task Force with the humanitarian mission of rescuing United States military personnel held as prisoners of war at the Son Tay Prison Compound about 20 nautical miles from Hanoi, North Vietnam. In an outstanding display of leadership and personal courage, COL Simons led the ground force in the rescue effort. On the ground, the search and rescue element was taken under automatic weapons fire by the enemy. While directing and supervising the operation, COL Simons continually exposed himself to enemy fire and, on one occasion, personally took under fire enemy personnel in close proximity to his position. The success of the operation was the direct result of COL Simons' calm and competent leadership in an extremely hazardous situation. His professional conduct instilled confidence in his men and resulted in an outstanding operation. Colonel Simons' courageous actions and extraordinary heroism earned him the U.S. Army's second highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross. The DSC was presented to him by President Richard M. Nixon at the White House on 25 November 1970.
While the mission rescued no prisoners (due to an intelligence failure, the raiders were not notified that the prisoners had been moved a few months earlier), it did force North Vietnam to consolidate all of the prisoners into a few central compounds in Hanoi, resulting in a boost in the prisoners' morale and improved treatment. They were also heartened to know that a rescue effort had been attempted. While the mission did not accomplish its primary objective, the North Vietnamese were given pause at the ease in which Americans could invade so close to their capitol, and no American lives were lost in the operation (only one minor injury, a sprained ankle).
Simons' nickname "Bull" was taken from a physical training game called the "bull pit," whereby one Soldier climbs down into a pit in the ground, and other Soldiers engage in trying to pull the first Soldier from the pit. Simons' large physical stature and great strength (even in his fifties, he did 250 push-ups every day) made him a formidable challenge to remove from the pit, and the name "Bull" stuck.
In Retirement:
Colonel Simons retired from the Army on 31 July 1971, and moved with his wife to a small farm in Red Bay, FL, engaging in livestock farming and doing amateur gunsmithing on the side. In late 1978, Simons was contacted by Texas businessman Ross Perot, who requested his direction and leadership to help free two employees of Electronic Data Systems that were arrested shortly before the Iranian Revolution. Simons organized a rescue mission and ultimately freed the two men from the Iranian prison. All involved returned safely to the U.S. Three months later, while on vacation in Vail, CO, Simons died of heart complications at the age of 60.
Ross Perot and others founded a scholarship initiative for the children of the casualties from the Iranian hostage rescue attempt, and named the fund in honor of Colonel Simons' memory.
Source: Military Hall of Honor