Marvin Stephen Sims USAF Col. Ret.

Col. Marvin S. Sims, retired US Air Force, age 86, died Thursday, April 7, 2005 at his home in San Antonio. He was born November 1, 1918 on a farm near Brazil, Indiana. He attended high school in Putnamville, Indiana and graduated from Greencastle High School. At age 21 he joined the Air Force and in February 1941, he arrived at Kelly Field.

Sims was first assigned as an assistant crew chief on At-6A aircraft. He was sent to Rantoul Air Force Base for air mechanics school. From there he went to Luke Air Force Base where a new base was being carved out of brush and sand. Luke AFB opened a gunnery range in Ajo, Arizona where they maintained targets for gun ships rotating every 30 days, as they were living in tents.

He requested transfer to the flying cadets to train as a pilot and in 1942 was assigned to the Southwest Training Command. While there he completed training for Stearman bi-wing aircraft, BT-13 aircraft and for advanced training in the AT-6A aircraft. After single engine fighter training, he was assigned to a multi-engine transition, B-17's in Jimmy Stewart's squadron at Cowen Field, Boise, Idaho. He was later sent to a B-24 outfits in Pocatello, Idaho and Topeka, Kansas for preparation to go overseas.

They embarked on the Empress of Japan, which had been librated from the Japanese, arriving in Casablanca as replacements for a mission over Ploesti, Rumania. They moved to Bengazi, where they were in the 98th bomb wing, hitting targets in Rumania, Italy, Germany, Poland and Yugoslavia. Then they moved to a dry lake bed in Tripoli where they stayed until the rainy season, getting out just before the lake filled up. His next tour was in Brindsi, Italy where he flew over 50 missions. In 1944, Sims went to Chanute Field for more training then was assigned to Grand Island, Nebraska as Flight Test Pilot.

The base commander John Kane, was the leader of the 98th Bomb group flying infamous low level raids on the Ploesti oil fields which suffered a 50% loss of B-24 aircraft. After two years at Grand Island, Sims received an offer to go to Alaska with Major Maynard White. In July 1947 he boarded a plane to Fairbanks. The B-29's they took to Alaska had been modified and were equipped with Curtis electrical propellers, witch tanks, N-1 gyros and other navigational aids. The mission was to service test the Grid Navigational system and map the northern continent of Alaska and the Artic Ocean. The coming winter experienced temperatures of -55 to -60 degrees below zero.

While in Alaska, Sims met a school teacher from Vernon, Texas named Lula Kate Johnson. They were married in 1947. Sims was transferred to Eilson Air Base where he became air inspector. His next assignment was the 2nd SSS Strategic Support Squadron in El Paso, Texas, where he carried out missions for S.A.C. in C54 aircraft to Alaska, England, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and the Azores. After a year in El Paso they moved to Roswell Air Force Base and later to Merced, California. In 1955, he was assigned to the 374th troop carrier wing, then to the 315th Air Division in Tachikawa, Japan providing C-124 aircraft support to Seoul, Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and all of Japan.

Upon returning to the US, he entered the class of 1958-1959 at the Air Command and Staff College in Montgomery, Alabama. He was then assigned to the Depot in Middletown, Pennsylvania where he was Production Control Chief, supervising about 5, 000 people. During this period, he completed training at Headquarters AFLC Logistic School in Wright Patterson, Ohio. He also completed two years of college courses during this period. Sims retired as a Colonel on August 31, 1964 after 24 years of service and moved with his family to San Antonio, going to work for the civil service at Kelly AFB and retiring in 1983.

He served on the city council of Shavano Park. His military career yielded him several honors including; an Air Medal, a Distinguished Unit Citation Emblem, a Good Conduct Medal, and a Commendation Ribbon. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Lula Kate Sims and is survived by his children, Marvin Sims II of Boise, Idaho, Barbara Hayden of Fredericksburg, TX, his grandchildren, Marvin Sims, III of San Antonio, Jared Sims of Chapel Hill, N. C., and Christie Hayden of San Antonio.