F.M. Richard Simons was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania in December 1925. He lived there his whole life. He attended college before the war and then returned and used the G.I. Bill of Rights [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to finish at Dickinson College [Annotator's Note: in Carlisle, Pennsylvania]. He studied Political Science and History. Hershey is very provincial. Gettysburg [Annotator's Note: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania] is nearby and his high school, Camp Curtin [Annotator's Note: Camp Curtin School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania], was an actual camp for the Union troops during the Civil War [Annotator's Note: American Civil War, 1861 to 1865]. His community would have parades on Armistice Day [Annotator's Note: Annual commemoration of the armistice signed for the end of World War 1, 11 November 1918]. Indiantown Gap [Annotator's Note: Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania] was nearby. Simons learned about World War 1 through The American Legion Magazine [Annotator's Note: monthly magazine of the The American Legion, veterans service organization]. Simons was at a kid's meeting and people were screaming and yelling that Pearl Harbor was being bombed [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Monday at school, they heard the President talk. They saw soldiers all the time. Simons enlisted in the Army Air Forces, but his eyes were not good, so he wound up in the infantry at Camp Wheeler, Georgia [Annotator's Note: in Macon, Georgia]. He heard about the ski troops and signed up. He had never skied in his life. He had to have three letters of recommendation to get in. He got one from his rabbi, his high school, and a buddy who was a lieutenant. According to the story, Mark Clark [Annotator's Note: US Army General Mark Wayne Clark] told Marshall [Annotator's Note: US Chief of Staff and General of the Army George C. Marshall] he needed the ski troops. So they went to Italy and took a few mountains. He enlisted the summer of 1943 when he was 17. He had seen movies about the Air Force, and they were interesting.

F.M. Richard Simons had infantry training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia [Annotator's Note: in Macon, Georgia]. On the rifle range, he was in the prone position and his glasses were fogging up because he was scared. They did a good job of training, and he had some fantastic sergeants. It was hard training. They bivouacked [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite] the last few weeks and guys got diarrhea due to food being left out in the sun. Simon's mother was a pharmacist and sent him medicine called Kaopectate [Annotator's Note: anti-diarrheal medicine]. That made him the most popular guy in the unit. All of the roads and training fields were named after Confederate Generals from the Confederate States of America [Annotator's Note: the States that seceded prior to the American Civil War, 1861 to 1865]. That was new to Simons. Most of the non-coms [Annotator's Note: non-commissioned officers] were Southerners and they drove the Northerners hard. They had a mock battle training in house-to-house fighting. He then went to Camp Ritchie, Virginia [Annotator's Note: later Fort Richie, Maryland]. He shipped over on the SS America which had been converted to the SS West Point [Annotator's Note: USS West Point (AP-23)]. They had about 5,000 on the ship and had no escort. They got to Gibraltar [Annotator's Note: Gibraltar, British Overseas Territory] and picked up an escort. The German Air Force was still in Italy. The trip over was uneventful. They got two meals a day at ten and four [Annotator's Note: ten o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in the afternoon]. Their bunks were five high. Simons did not get seasick. He was with his unit and that was nice. He had his friends with him and that was important in the war. He was in the 10th Mountain Division, 87th Regiment, G Company, 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad [Annotator's Note: 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division]. He was a BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] gunner. He was glad he was not a machine gunner. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Simons about training to snow ski.] By the time Simons got to the unit, it had been transferred down to Texas and he never got a chance to ski. They were trained as flat land infantry at Camp Swift, Texas. His trip overseas was his first trip outside his home. The Navy had a PX [Annotator's Note: post exchange] on the ship and he bought a box of Clark Bars [Annotator's Note: American candy bar]. He did not smoke cigarettes, so he gave his cigarettes away. They landed in Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy] and took 40-and-eights [Annotator's Note: 40 and eight refers European railroad boxcars which could accommodate 40 standing men or eight standing horses] to outside of Pisa [Annotator's Note: Pisa, Italy]. There were still some land mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact] there and a couple of men got killed just walking around. That was the first time Simons really got scared.

F.M. Richard Simons and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] were told they were in the King's Forest [Annotator's Note: King Victor Emmanuel's Hunting Grounds, near Pisa, Italy] and trained there. It was cold. They were well-equipped and had warm clothes. A lot of things were stolen for the black market in Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy]. They had their own MPs [Annotator's Note: military police], so they protected their gear. They were taken up the mountains and then had to walk in the cold. It was tough. He was struck by the size of the searchlights. They stayed in a house and took turns going into the holes [Annotator's Note: foxholes]. They could see the Germans sunbathing. There were a lot of replacements in the rear. He was in a hole watching some Germans. Some men came up to take a look, and Simons went back to get some coffee. A mortar attack then landed on that foxhole. That was his entrance to the war in Vidiciatico [Annotator's Note: Vidiciatico, Italy], northwest of Florence [Annotator's Note: Florence, Italy] where they headquartered. He returned there later on. They traveled as a Company and that was the best part. They knew each other. They were less than a mile away from the Germans, but they were not allowed to shoot them. He never understood that. Axis Sally [Annotator's Note: Rita Luisa Zucca] knew all about the 10th Mountain Division. She had good music. They paid no attention to her propaganda. He did see some propaganda leaflets that asked why they were there and what they were doing there. They also said they were dying for nothing. The Jews in the outfit were told not to get captured or they would be killed. That scared them all. Simons was picked on all the time by one guy. The nickname for Jews was "choppy" due to their being circumcised. The two men got into a fistfight. They were all in the same boat and Simons made some very good friends.

F.M. Richard Simons was in the 3rd Platoon, 2nd Squad [Annotator's Note: of Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division]. 3rd Squad [Annotator's Note: of 3rd Platoon, Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] went out on the first patrol. His friend [Annotator's Note: unintelligible] was in it. When he came back, he told Simons he crapped his pants because he was scared. They were at Mount Belvedere [Annotator's Note: Monte Belvedere, Italy] at Riva Ridge [Annotator's Note: site of decisive battle]. It had to be taken because the Germans could see everything. They took it. They had to walk in icy conditions. Their first combat was being shelled by mortars and it was frightening. His squad leader told them not to bunch up and to dig holes. They were lucky because there were foxholes already there. At daylight, his sergeant got killed by a sniper. They went crazy and peppered the place. They put fences with tin cans in front of their foxholes to make noise if anyone came through. From there on in, it was just "shoot and advance." They were running and they dropped all of their gear. He never got it back. They were running up and down mountains and trying to stay alive. The Air Force was powerful. They put out pots [Annotator's Note: signal smoke pots] so they would not shoot them. They always had hot food and bread. They had C-rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food] and little stoves. Napoleon [Annotator's Note: Napoleon Bonaparte, French statesman, military ruler, and Emperor of France] said that "an army travels on its stomach" and it is true. They had warm clothing and plenty of ammunition. They were a closely knit group. When someone got killed it was very upsetting. Senator Robert Dole [Annotator's Note: Robert Joseph Dole, American veteran and politician] was in their division in the 85th [Annotator's Note: 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] as a replacement officer. He did not last long before he was shot. Most of the men got shot, but they were always worried about land mines. They were running and came across two dead G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] who had feces spread on their bodies. That got them so worked up that if they had come across any Germans, they would have killed them even if they had their hands up. Simons had taken German in college, and it was his job to tell the Germans to surrender with their hands up. They did take some prisoners later, but at that scene, they would have killed them. That would have been murder, but that scene was that horrible. There were some SS troops [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization] in that unit. Not all Germans were SS and were soldiers just like the Americans. When they surrendered, they would walk down in twos. They were tired of the war. Many of them spoke English.

F.M. Richard Simons did not smoke and gave his daily cigarettes away. So many people in World War 2 were given free cigarettes. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Simons to talk about the attack on Mount Belvedere, or Monte Belvedere, in Italy.] Simons and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] were scattered, and it was freezing. He was with an 88th Division [Annotator's Note: 88th Infantry Division] guy and they would hug each other to keep warm. It [Annotator's Note: the cold] was terrible. They were under mortar attack and were preparing for a counterattack that never came. The 87th did not get much resistance, but the 86th [Annotator's Note: 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] and 85th [Annotator's Note: 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] did. It was an aggressive campaign. He remembers mostly fear. When the Germans surrendered, they knew the war was over for them, but just beginning for Simons and his men. One German soldier said he had never understood why there were so many Americans. They had the heaviest casualties, and they were lucky they took the mountain. He did not understand why they took the mountain until many years later. When you are a grunt, you do not understand the big picture. His sergeant was 36 years old, and he ran with the unit just as they did. A lot of guys were fatalists and would not dig foxholes. They did not see many of the Germans shooting at them. Most of the attacks they had were mortar attacks and that scared them because they do not know where the enemy was. The third one coming in was the one they worried about. Some of his friends were killed. They were only 19 and it was very sad. The campaign itself was short. Simons broke his ankle but could not stop. It was Easter and Passover. He gave his trip [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to Rome [Annotator's Note: Rome, Italy] to somebody else. They got a three-day pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to get a Passover dinner in Florence [Annotator's Note: Florence, Italy]. He could not go because of his ankle. He went to the hospital. They were given their passes because they took the mountain. They all had grown beards because there was no time to relax.

F.M. Richard Simons always had food. The food in the camps was not too bad. They did not complain as long as they had hot soup, coffee, and bread. As a BAR gunner [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] gunner with three people to a team, Simons was the ammo man. If anyone else got hit, he was to take over. They had clips and bandoliers. He cleaned his rifle all the time. He carried his own M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] as well as the ammunition for the BAR. Nobody in his squad was ever hurt. They were very lucky and had a good squad leader who was like a father to them. He told them to keep their heads down. They were told not to clip their helmet straps, because if there was a concussion you could break your neck. They always had first aid when they took off. It is hard for him to realize he was only 19 at the time. He has grandsons that were in the Israeli Defense Forces at his age. Mail call was important to Simons and the men, and he is grateful they had V-mail [Annotator's Note: Victory Mail; postal system put into place during the war to drastically reduce the space needed to transport mail].

F.M. Richard Simons' worst memories are of the cold and the fear of falling asleep in his foxhole. They had wire with tin cans in front of them to warn them of anyone coming in. The only time they slept was during the day. They ran and walked and ran and walked. Wars are made for young people. Kurt Vonnegut [Annotator's Note: Kurt Vonnegut, American writer] called it a children's crusade because they were all kids. Their officers were only 24 and 25 years old. They would be asked if they wanted to go to OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school], but they were told the average life of an infantry officer was 30 days. Nobody wanted to go. One day they were moving on the line and one platoon was pinned down. The lieutenant was running and yelling for help. Nobody moved. It was terrible. The mortar attacks bothered him. They did not know when they would come. Foxholes are no protection from mortars. They did receive small arms fire, but the mortars scared them. He does not know how he survived other than luck. They had a good general, General Hays [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George Price Hays], who was a Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor] winner in the First World War. Their Colonel, Fowler [Annotator's Note: US Army Colonel David M. Fowler], was good too. They had very good leaders. Simons called his squad leader years later. He thanked him for saving his life many times. The sergeant was 36 years old then. Young people win wars.

The horrible times for F.M. Richard Simons were mortars and trying not to fall asleep in his foxhole. Once, they heard the tin cans [Annotator's Note: strung on wires in front of their foxholes] clanking and they started shooting. It was a dog. What he liked most was the buddy system. You did it for your friends. He found out later that General Marshall [Annotator's Note: US Chief of Staff and General of the Army George C. Marshall] found out that 70 percent of casualties were infantry men. He gave everybody across the board Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy]. It came in handy when he went home on the point system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. They wanted to give him a Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy], but he would not take it. He broke his ankle, but he saw too many guys get killed. He was taught to care about people, and that carries over in war. The Army tries to make you a killer. Bayonet practice was very difficult for him, and he was glad he had a weapon. He only had an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He did not have a .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol]. In close-up fighting, you want a pistol. Simons' bayonet was always on his weapon. He did not want to get close to somebody to have to use a bayonet. They threw away their gas masks. Each side was prepared but did not use gas. Simons only saw Germans up close when they were surrendering. He never had any contact on his patrols. The 87th [Annotator's Note: Simons was a member of Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] was lucky. The 86th [Annotator's Note: 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] and 85th [Annotator's Note: 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] had more casualties. Most of his regiment's casualties were from land mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact] or mortar attacks. When fire is coming at you, there is so much fear that adrenaline takes over. The training takes over and you do things automatically. One time, some Germans were coming down to surrender and he was scared. There was a well nearby and he threw grenades down it to make sure nobody was hiding. Another time, two very young men were walking down a path [Annotator's Note: to surrender] and they were scared. Towards the end, the Germans were using very young men and old men. That is how they knew they were winning the war. Simons never ran across any SS [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization].

Looking back, F.M. Richard Simons and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] just ran all the time. They were lucky and advancing all the time. His regiment took everything. Towards the end the Germans were surrendering. They had no food. Simons had food and good leadership. His first time under mortar attack was horrible and scary. There was very little firing during the day. Simons was in the hospital for several weeks [Annotator's Note: after breaking his ankle] and missed the Po Valley [Annotator's Note: also called the Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain, a geographical feature of Northern Italy] push. The hospital had beds all over. A guy he knew from his outfit was there too. The friend asked him to go get a chess set to send home. When Simons returned to his unit, the war was over. They were in Northern Italy near Yugoslavia. He was sent home. He was reclassified as a disc jockey due to his ankle injury. He had friends there. The 442 [Annotator's Note: 442nd Regimental Combat Team] was there. They were Nisei [Annotator's Note: a person born in the United States or Canada whose parents were immigrants from Japan] and were superb soldiers. The only units fighting still were the 88th Division [Annotator's Note: 88th Infantry Division] and the 92nd [Annotator's Note: 92nd Infantry Division]. They were very fortunate that the Germans were retreating. Mark Clark [Annotator's Note: US Army General Mark Wayne Clark] got his wish when they took the mountain for him. The Po Valley was complete advancing with no chance to rest. Simons had gone in the hospital in March or April 1945. He liked the clean sheets and good food. He saw a lot of his men come in wounded. It was in Florence, Italy. He returned years later. He went to school there for a couple of months after the war ended. He took horseback riding and history. A lot of men opened ski resorts. Simons is sorry he never got to ski in his unit. He was not an expert climber. The 85th [Annotator's Note: 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division] climbed a mountain and took it. Mountain climbing is a skill. There were a few ski patrols but not many. They would go over land mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact] because they were so fast.

F.M. Richard Simons was a disc jockey for a while and then had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to go home in the summer of 1945. He went to college that Fall. He was lucky. He was a disc jockey in Pisa [Annotator's Note: Pisa, Italy] for AES, the American Expeditionary Station, Leghorn [Annotator's Note: Leghorn, or Livorno, Italy]. His cousin in the Navy in the Mediterranean heard him. Simons played music in the morning. That is when he learned about Stan Kenton [Annotator's Note: Stanley Newcomb Kenton, American musician]. He also got to see Frank Sinatra [Annotator's Note: Francis Albert Sinatra, American singer, actor, producer] at a USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization, Inc.] show. They all cried when he sang, "Nancy." It was somewhere near Rome [Annotator's Note: Rome, Italy]. The war matured Simons quickly. He was grateful to be alive and had an understanding of other people, including minorities. They had no problems [Annotator's Note: with race relations] in their unit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division]. Life is very short. There are no atheists in foxholes. The first night they were shelled, he could hear everybody praying. Simons feels it is important to teach about World War 2, because you learn from your mistakes. What the World War 2 Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] is doing is noble. What he does not like are reenactors. The war should be taught at every college in the country. Three hundered soldiers [Annotator's Note: World War 2 veterans] were dying per day. People should not forget. He has four daughters who have sons. Simons never talked about the war, but they know about his unit. They did not want their sons to be soldiers, but two in Israel were. Simons only talked about the war at a party where he was asked about it. He said war is just like "Saving Private Ryan" [Annotator's Note: 1998 American war film set during the Invasion of Normandy]. Gary Cooper [Annotator's Note: American actor] played Sergeant York [Annotator's Note: Sergeant Alvin Cullum York, in a film about him] and war is like that. This interview is the first time he has ever really spoken about it. War is just horrible. His prayers were answered, and he promised to be a good guy. God kept his end of the bargain and Simons is keeping his. Some years ago, a woman looked him up. Her uncle had been with him. It was a sad story. There was a cemetery in Florence, Italy and he went there. Simons did not know how the man died. The government would have brought the body home, but she did not want that. Italy and France take care of the cemeteries. They should. There is a lot of young blood over there. He likes the phrase, "Children's Crusade" by Kurt Vonnegut [Annotator's Note: Kurt Vonnegut, American writer].

F.M. Richard Simons only regrets losing good friends. He is an only child. His parents divorced. His mother got rid of his clothes when he went in the service. The biggest thrill of his life was walking in the door to see his mother. She had a steak, mashed potatoes, and apple pudding waiting for him. He wants to make sure we [Annotator's Note: the United States] do not go to war again. He is a pacifist. He had a buddy in the 95th [Annotator's Note: 95th Infantry Division] and they talk several times a week. They are so disgusted with what is going on [Annotator's Note: at the time of this interview]. To lose someone in a war is horrible. He wrote a letter to his grandchildren about war. They are in Israel. He told them war is all about oil. He did not want his grandsons in the Army. They are out now. "Saving Private Ryan" [Annotator's Note: 1998 American war film set during the Invasion of Normandy] did the job. There is a movie out now about the 92nd Division [Annotator's Note: 92nd Infantry Division], "The Miracle at St. Anna" [Annotator's Note: 2008 American film] by Spike Lee [Annotator's Note: Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee, American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and professor]. Simons knew some of the soldiers. The 92nd was an all-black [Annotator's Note: African-American] division and that was a mistake [Annotator's Note: having segregated units]. Simons made promises in prayer his first night of combat and he is keeping his promises. Simons does not like reenactments. It is like a game. They go to Gettysburg and play games like it is war. At Indiantown Gap [Annotator's Note: Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon, Pennsylvania], they reenact World War 2, and he does not like it. They only show the glamour of it. When someone is hit by a bullet or a shell, their body is blown apart and it is something you do not forget. He volunteered some years ago to be at the gate of one and it bothered him. If you lose someone you love, that is enough. When he came home, he met some widows. They had gotten life insurance payouts but that is not enough. He has an acquaintance who never met his father who was killed in the war. That happened all the time. That bothers him the most. When he hears people talking about Iraq, he says to get out of there. He wonders what his daughter tells her sons. She drives by the former home base of the 10th Mountain [Annotator's Note: 10th Mountain Division].

F.M. Richard Simons thinks it would be nice if people remember the good things [Annotator's Note: about World War 2]. He would like for there to be no more wars. We did not have to lose those people. He is glad he is alive and would not want to do it again. He gave a lecture once and surprised the teacher by being anti-war. He does not want to see anyone's children go in the service. At his synagogue, they read off the names of the ones killed and say prayers for them. They all belong to somebody. War is hell. There is no glory in it. He wears the Combat Infantry Badge [Annotator's Note: the Combat Infantryman Badge or CIB is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers in the rank of Colonel and below, who personally fought in active ground combat while assigned as members of either an infantry, Ranger or Special Forces unit, of brigade size or smaller, any time after 6 December 1941] in his lapel. People thank him. He paid his dues, and he wants people to remember them [Annotator's Note: the veterans]. He went back and it was very difficult. He went with his daughter. It brought back terrible memories, but he is glad he went back to Italy. He does have fond memories. He was at Mount Belvedere [Annotator's Note: Monte Belvedere, Italy] and thought about how stupid it was. He cannot say it was fun, but it was a great adventure. He is glad he was young. Simons once got off of a truck and had to walk up an icy trail. He saw the humongous searchlights. He went out on patrols, and it was scary. He is grateful to be alive. If he can be anti-war to anybody, he is. He loves this country [Annotator's Note: the United States] and is proud to be a flag-waver. Mount Belvedere is still there and people go skiing there. [Annotator's Note: The tape breaks and Simons is telling a story.] They were digging in and a guy asked why. Simons saw a ravine where a jeep was coming down. A mortar hit the jeep. Simons was more afraid of mortars than other fire. A movie that gave him nightmares was called "Attack" [Annotator's Note: 1956 American war film] with Jack Palance [Annotator's Note: born Volodymyr Palahnuik, American actor]. His wife asked what was wrong because he was screaming. "Saving Private Ryan" [Annotator's Note: 1998 American war film set during the Invasion of Normandy] did not give him nightmares. He did not have flamethrowers in his unit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 3rd Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division], and he is glad. [Annotator's Note: Simons returns to the foxhole story]. Simons told the man to dig. They saw the jeep blow up and he then dug.