Scope and Contents

Slides that document Theron 'Buddy' SIms tours of duty at Bien Hoa, Vietnam (November 1968-November 1969) and a tour at Utopa, Thailand (April-October 1972).

Biographical / Historical

Lieutenant Colonel Theron 'Buddy' Sims was born on 23 September 1944 in Topeka, Kansas. In 1962, he volunteered for the United States Marine Corps Reserves and then volunteered for the United States Air Force in 1968, and again in 2002. While serving in Southeast Asia, Sims was assigned first to the 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS) at Bien Hoa from November 1968 to November 1969, and then to the 307th Strategic Wing in Vietnam and Utapo, Thailand from April through October 1972. During this time, he held the ranks and postions of 2nd and 1st Lieutenant Forward Air Controller (0-2A aircraft) and Captain Pilot, B-52D Aircraft Commander. While in Southeast Asia, Sims was involved in the Night Forward Air Controller Support III Corps, the Tet Offensive, and the B-52D Linebacker I bombing of North Vietnam. In 1989, Sims retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He then became a Pan Am Airlines pilot of a Boeing 727 from New York to Washington, D.C. from 1989 to 1991, and then became a Logistic Contractor for Naval Air Systems Command from 1991 through 1996 and became a member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 10721. In 2002, he was recommissioned in the United States Air Force, retiring again in 2004 for a total of twenty-seven years in the United States Military and is currently working on the Freedom Park Memorial to commemorate the sacrifices of the military citizens of Eagle County, Colorado.