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Elton Bradley Collins
Corporal
D CO, 4TH BN, 503RD INFANTRY, 173RD ABN BDE, USARV Army of the United States Fort Wayne, Indiana September 09, 1948 to December 30, 1968 ELTON B COLLINS is on the Wall at Panel W35, Line 8 |
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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:
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