William Paul Simpson - Denton, TX
N 33° 12.475 W 097° 08.330
14S E 673466 N 3675880
A government-issued cenotaph for William Paul Simpson serves as a memorial next to the final resting places of his parents in historic I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Denton, TX.
Waymark Code: WM12EEP
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/09/2020
Views: 1
Captain Simpson -- his promotion appears to be posthumous, from the rank of First Lieutenant -- was the son of Paul Newton and Sallie Morris Simpson, and his marble cenotaph stands next to their headstones. It reads:
In Memory of
William
Paul
Simpson
Capt
US Army
World War II
Dec 19 1919
Apr 3 1945
A "Hot Rock" Pilot
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That Captain Simpson is remembered as a "hot rock pilot" means that he was an exceptional pilot and probably willing to engage in a daring maneuver or two. The Pacific Wrecks website (see below) has some good reading about both the bomber he piloted, a B-25J-5-NC, and its crew and mission. This was one of twelve B-25s from the 499th Bombardment Squadron and 500th Bombardment Squadron that took off on April 3, 1945 from San Marcelino Airfield at Luzon. Simpson was the pilot with a crew of four other men, leading the 500th Bombardment Squadron formation on a bombing and strafing mission against Japanese shipping off the coast of China's Hainan Island. Met with anti-aircraft fire, they were forced to ditch, and Simpson was killed on impact along with his co-pilot, Arthur C. Blum. The three others did manage to escape, but became the guests of the Japanese military, with one of the three dying of starvation while in their care. Simpson and Blum are both listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery.