Hometown: San Antonio, TX
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: C Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) “Green Beret”
Military Honors: Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: May 1, 2013 - died of wounds sustained in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
Age: 30
Conflict: War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021

Mike Simpson was born in Bad Tölz—home to a U.S. Army base in Bavaria, Germany—to Lieutenant Colonel Michael W. and Barbara Simpson. The family lived in Texas, Rhode Island, Washington state, North Carolina, and Stuttgart, Germany while his father was on active duty in the Army.

Along with Mike’s older siblings Isaac, Abigail, and David, the family moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1994. Mike grew up playing soccer, enjoyed theater (as did his mother), and was active in his church youth group. His classmates at San Antonio’s Tom C. Clark High School voted him class clown. Family members recount that “he knew just what to do or say to make others laugh.”

After graduating high school in 2001, Simpson attended Texas A&M before enlisting in the U.S. Army as an infantryman in April of 2003. The nation was less than two years removed from the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Simpson’s older brothers served in the military, and he too wanted to serve his country in its time of need.

After enlisting, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training. With his training complete, Simpson was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, as a rifleman.

The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as the “Old Guard” is the Army’s official ceremonial unit. The oldest active-duty infantry unit in the U.S. Army, the Old Guard is charged with escorting the president—and providing security for the nation’s capital in times of crisis.

While in the Old Guard, Simpson was honored to carry the Army guidon (flag/standard) for President Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

Simpson met his wife Krista in June of 2006 in her home state of Massachusetts. In August of that year, he was assigned to C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Germany. He deployed to Iraq in September of 2007 as a fire team leader in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Simpson was involved in combat operations in Baghdad and Diyala.

While he was back home for his mid-tour leave in April of 2008, Simpson proposed to Krista. After he returned from Iraq, the two were married in Rhode Island on December 20, 2008, and would later welcome two sons: Michael and Gabriel.

Simpson volunteered for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course and went to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, completing the Special Forces Qualification Course in March of 2011.

Now an elite “Green Beret,” Simpson was assigned as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant to C Company, 4th Battalion (Airborne), 1st Special Forces Group, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

In 2012, his battalion took part in the exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand. Cobra Gold was the United States’ largest multinational exercise, involving more than 20 participating countries. The purpose was to train together and coordinate the efforts of multiple nations’ militaries.

Krista recounts their family time together:

Mike served God, country, and his family. When home, he was present and an incredibly fun daddy. He played this game called Daddy T-Rex where he would hold Gabe and chase Mic around the house, pretending to be a dinosaur. They would also lie on the floor and play Legos, have mini race-car races all the while tapping into Mike’s very present childlike spirit. He’d say to me, ‘I can’t wait until they’re older so I can do more with them.’ He couldn’t wait to play basketball, soccer, and teach them to ride bikes.

Simpson referred to Krista as his “compass and north star” and said that his most prized possession was the family they had together.

On April 6, 2013, SSG Simpson deployed with his company to eastern Afghanistan—his second combat deployment. Less than three weeks later, Krista received the phone call “that every military spouse prays they’ll never get.”

SSG Simpson’s unit had been conducting combat operations in Ghazni Province. While maneuvering on an ATV he hit a pressure-plate improvised explosive device (IED). After the blast, Simpson was alive but in critical condition. His team moved him to the nearest base and loaded him onto a helicopter to transport him to the medical center in Ghazni, Afghanistan.

There they performed life-saving procedures and evacuated him to a medical facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, where he underwent multiple surgeries. Eventually, he would be airlifted from Afghanistan to Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany.

With Simpson alive but not responsive, his family was flown to Germany to say their final goodbyes. Krista, along with Simpson’s parents, siblings, and their spouses were there on May 1, 2013, when Mike succumbed to his injuries. He was 30 years old.

Later that month, on May 30, Staff Sergeant Michael H. Simpson was laid to rest alongside fellow service members at Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 60, Site 10380. He was buried with full military honors by his original Old Guard unit—where he served when he first joined the military in 2003.

At the bottom of SSG Simpson’s headstone is the motto of the United States Army Special Forces—the Latin phrase “De Oppresso Liber,” which in English can be translated “To Free the Oppressed.”

SSG Simpson was intensely proud of being among the Army’s elite Green Beret Special Forces—often referred to as the “Quiet Professionals.” So much so, that his fellow soldiers affectionately referred to him as the “Unquiet Professional.”

Within a month of SSG Simpson being laid to rest, his wife Krista and her friend Andrea Rinaldi founded a non-profit organization to help Gold Star & Surviving Families, Veterans, and Military Families heal from the wounds of war. The organization is named “The Unquiet Professional,” in honor of Mike Simpson. The organization’s mission is expressed as “Making Noise for Those Who Serve.”

Sources
Card photo and story details submitted by Ms. Krista Simpson Anderson, SSG Simpson’s Gold Star Spouse.
Green Beret Foundation: Michael H. Simpson
The Unquiet Professional
We are the Mighty—Mighty Stories: Remembering my big, bad Green Beret, SSG Michael H. Simpson
U.S. Army Special Operations Command: SSG Michael H. Simpson
U.S. Army Special Operations Command: Biographical Sketch, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Simpson
Burial Site: Find a Grave