Private Donald Lee Simpson was born on March 18, 1921 in Bagdad, Florida, the son of the widow Anna Fitzgerald (1887-1978) and her late husband Charles Henry Simpson (1868-1936). His family's roots were at the heart of Bagdad, with ties back to Ezekiel E. Simpson and Benjamin Overman. His father had supported his family as a real estate agent before his death in 1936. Following his father's death, Donald finished Milton high school and worked in construction until he enlisted in the Army on November 17, 1942. He volunteered to become a paratrooper and was assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division.
The regiment fought valiantly through the campaigns of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Netherlands, France, and Belgium. The division was notified late on December 17, 1944 that the Germans had broken through into Belgium and Luxembourg with a powerful armored attack that became known as the "Battle of the Bulge." On the morning of December 18th, Donald's regiment started for the besieged village of Bastogne in large convoy trucks. However, they were diverted to the town of Werbomont because they were the ones in greater peril at the time. During the fighting against heavy German resistance on the 18th, Private Donald Lee Simpson of Bagdad, Florida was killed in action. The regiment itself would survive the Battle of the Bulge, but reported the heaviest enemy fire they had ever encountered in the war.
Casualties during the battle were tremendous, of which Donald was only one. Telegrams were sent out to families all over the nation informing their loved ones of their sons being wounded or killed. Donald's family had just received a box of war souvenirs from him to keep for him until the war was over. The next morning there was a knock on the door and a Western Union messenger was standing there with an envelope. This was their third since he had already been wounded twice before. But this one was different, and now their 22-year-old son was dead.
His body had been loaded onto a truck and carried back to a staging area to join all the others going in the same direction. The grave registration personnel were working day and night to process all the fatalities. Private Simpson's remains were processed and his personal effects were sent home. He was buried in a military cemetery before being disinterred in 1949 and sent home to his family for burial in the Bagdad Cemetery where he rests today.
Private Donald Lee Simpson
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