The parents of Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, who died in a military refueling aircraft crash over Iraq last week, said their son was a “trailblazer,” “the light of the party,” and “always smiling.”
“Even in school, teachers always commented on how well-behaved he was,” his father, Mylo Simmons, told CBS News, adding, “He loved being in the military. He loved serving.”
Simmons was assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Columbus, Ohio. He and five other service members died on March 12 when an aerial refueling aircraft taking part in operations against Iran crashed in western Iraq.
His mother, Cheryl Simmons, said they knew that once the war broke out two weeks ago, their son was most likely going to be deployed.
“We cannot fight a war without having tankers, without gas, you can’t have a war,” she said. “That’s how important his job was to the whole picture.”
She added: “In the pit of your stomach, you’re saying, you know, we have a 50-50 chance of our son coming home…. when you hear the knock on the door, you’re hoping that it’s not a knock that, you know, you just don’t want. And when they knocked on the door, and Milo answered the door, I heard him say, ‘Oh no,’ and I knew, I knew. And it was, you know, from there on, life would never, ever, ever be the same. It will never be the same.”
Mylo Simmons said since receiving the news of their son’s death, they have been coping “day by day.”
“It’s so surreal, unbelievable. The worst news a parent wants to get,” he said. “I feel like I am in a movie. I am waiting to wake up.”
Cheryl Simmons said that while they are hurting, they know that their son made an impact on the world.
“He was a hero to his family, he was a hero to his friends,” she said. “They loved him, and he loved them. He was a man of purpose.”