The 20-year-old private first class left West Philadelphia High School in 1965 to fulfill his ambition of joining the Marine Corps. Simmons was sent to Vietnam, writing home that "living is hard, but dying is easy." He felt that it was a terrible place, but he there was a job to be done there. The rifleman, assigned to Company C of Battalion Landing Team 1, 3rd Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Group, He died in Quang Tri Province on May 2, 1967, during Operation Beavercage. Survivors included his parents and two sisters.