Elton Bradley CollinsCorporalD CO, 4TH BN, 503RD INFANTRY, 173 ABN BDE Army of the United States 09 September 1948 - 30 December 1968 Fort Wayne, Indiana Panel 35W Line 008 |
 
|
  
|
The database page for Elton Bradley Collins
|
I got to Nam in June of 1968 and Elton had been there a few months already. He used to get great "care" packages from home. I can still see his smiling face, tan, he had a real deep voice. I jumped on a chopper to go to Bangkok for R & R on New Year's Eve of '68 and we were just leaving a fire support base so we could go to Ban Me Thuot and build another one. I couldn't wait to get out of there. I returned about the 5th of January, 1969 and couldn't believe it when I heard that he and Stephen O. White of Chicago, the two guys I assigned my job, were both killed instantly when a mortar round landed in the 81mm mortar "gun pit." I think of him all the time, and Stephen. For years I felt guilty that it was them instead of me. I will always honor and regard their friendship and the ultimate sacrifice they made for this great country.
From a comrade-in-arms. |
A Note from The Virtual WallThe MACV Summary for December 1968 contains the following entry for 30 December:
The unit involved was D Company, 4/503rd Infantry, and the "light casualties" included two dead:
|
|
The point-of-contact for this memorial is a comrade-in-arms. bartdotnet@charter.net |
|
Top of Page
 www.VirtualWall.org Back to |
With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 12 Jun 2001
Last updated 07/29/2008