Thomas E. Simmons was born in Rio Grande City, TX, grew up in Edinburg, TX, and served in the Army during World War II, post-World War II, and the Korean War. He taught and was an administrator in the Edinburg schools from 1954 to 1967, and then taught at Pan American University from 1967 until his retirement in 1984. His father, paternal grandfather, and four uncles were in the military (grandfather and three uncles served at Fort Ringgold). This, and his own military service, led to a lifelong interest in military history. Recently he completed writing a book about an armed outbreak that occurred between Fort Ringgold soldiers and Rio Grande City residents, an incident which brought the State of Texas and the War Department into contention concerning jurisdiction over personnel on property ceded to the Federal Government. Simmons holds a BA (Pan American College), an MS (Texas A&I College), and a Ph.D. (Texas A&M University).

ISBN 0-938738-09-7