The funeral for a Columbus airman who died in Iraq last month will be held Friday.
Tyler Simmons, 28, was a boom operator on a KC-135 refueling plane that crashed on March 12. He died along with five other crew members on the plane, including Capt. Seth Koval, of Stoutsville, and Capt. Curtis Angst of Columbus.
Koval, Angst and Simmons served with the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus.
Charles Simmons, Tyler Simmons' father, said Thursday during an interview with WOSU that his son was first interested in becoming a pilot, even helping to fly a plane with former Tuskegee Airman James Yarbrough when he was in the ninth grade.
He said his son was highly self-motivated. Tyler had the ability to envision where he wanted to go and was disciplined in pursuing that.
Simmons said his son wanted to go to the Middle East when the war with Iran started Feb. 28.
"He volunteered for that. He actually wasn't supposed to be on that plane. He was supposed to be in Guam. But I think, I know he volunteered, I was told, the whole crew volunteered to be there," Charles Simmons said.
"His motive was to serve. And because I haven't really been following the news, I can't speak to what's happened since then. My whole focus has been on Tyler and making sure his legacy is known," he said.
Simmons said his son always liked to help others.
"He's kind of like an American hero," Simmons said.
The older Simmons remembered when his son was heading to Rickenbacker to work and saw that a neighbor's house was on fire.
"He stopped, made sure everybody got out of the house, called 911. Of course, he didn't have to do that. You know a lot of times today, people are only concerned about what they're doing," Charles Simmons said.
Charles Simmons has many memories of his son and airplanes.
"Well, he's always been fascinated with airplanes from the time he was a little fella. We would frequently park on Steltzer Road. It's the airport, the planes would fly over," Simmons said.
"We have pictures of him standing on the wing of an airplane," Simmons said.
Tyler Simmons was a 2015 graduate of Eastmoor Academy. His father said he was the starting quarterback on the football team his senior year.
Charles Simmons said after his son graduated, he worked at John Glenn Columbus International Airport loading and unloading baggage from planes as a ramp operator.
From there, he went to the Ohio Air National Guard, where he worked security at the front gate.
"Always smiling, greeting people at the front gate," his father said.
Tyler Simmons then went to boom operations. "That's what he wanted to pursue, because it was an opportunity for him to be in the planes," his father said.
Tyler Simmons' funeral service will be held Friday morning at the First Church of God, 3480 Refugee Road.
The three airmen returned to Rickenbacker on March 29 after their remains were first brought to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on March 18.
