Obituary: U.S. Army Air Corps Veteran: Joseph Collins

SGT Joseph Collins, a WWII veteran, who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps and worked on the maintenance of B-17 Flying Fortresses in England passed away November 6, 2024 at the age of 104. His article was published in the January 2020 issue of the Alabama Gazette.

https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2020/01/01/news/honoring-our-heros/1818.html

Sgt. Joseph Collins was born January 11, 1920, in the Welona community of Coosa County, AL, and except for the four years that he served with the United States Army Air Force during WWII, he has lived in Rockford, AL, in Coosa County. His parents were William Milton Collins and Jessie Virginia Allison.

Collins attended grammar school in the Richville community and graduated from the Rockford High School living on a farm until he was drafted along with 35 others to serve in the U. S. Army Air Force. On February 14, 1942, he was inducted at Ft. McPherson, a U. S. Army Air Force Base in Atlanta, GA. Then he was sent to Keesler Field in Biloxi, MS, Army Air Force Field in Charlotte, N.C., Army Air Force Base in Meridian, MS, Camp Shelby Army Air Corps Base in Hattiesburg, MS, and then to Camp Kilmer, N.J., an Army staging area. At New York City, Collins embarked on a ship carrying 5500 military personnel with a destination for Glascow, Scotland, arriving January 15, 1943. He worked at an airfield, at Polebrook, England, from which the U.S. Army Air Force carried out its heavy bombing group with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Collins served with the 351st Bombardment Group and spent WWII servicing 45 American planes such as the B-17 with 2800 gallons of gasoline preparing them for combat flights on the German occupied countries of Europe. When WWII ended, Collins sailed back to the U.S.A. from Le Havre, France, and was discharged December 7, 1945, at Ft. McPherson, GA, and four Coosa County, AL, discharged G.I.’s pooled their money and paid a man $50.00 to bring them home.

After discharge, Collins resumed working on a farm, cutting timber and raising cattle. He worked as a distributor for the Carter Co., a go-cart company, whose products were manufactured in Brundidge, AL, delivering them in Georgia. Collins has served for 45 years as a supervisor for Coosa County Soil and Water Conservation which distributes federal money for conservation projects and is committed to conserving Alabama’s natural resources by connecting those who use and work the land to the education, technical know-how and resources that they need. Collins was also involved working with the schools creating greenhouses and providing conservation information. He and his wife, Elizabeth Hanna, have been married 59 years. Although they do not have children of their own, they have close relationships with friends whose children view them as special parents too. Collins has been an active, faithful member of the Providence Baptist Church. He has enjoyed fox and squirrel hunting.

Collins reflects upon his military service saying, “On May 8, 1945, on the day that the war in Europe ended, he flew over the heavily damaged areas. Being in the military meant that you got to travel a lot. I got to meet people from almost every state in the union, learn more about how they lived compared to us and learn how to get along with them. I got to wade in the Mediterranean Sea near Marseille, France, after the war was over when we went there to close a base. I got to see cities in Scotland such as Dundee as well as lakes such as Loch Lomond. Back then everything was a secret. Today people are told how many troops are sent to war.” Today Collins continues his interest in the U.S. Air Force as each quarter he reads the 8th Air Force News.

Atwood Bullock Rush: 97

Atwood Bullock Ruch is a 97 year-old valiant WWII veteran who served November 11, 1943, until May 28th, 1946, in the U. S. Army 79th Infantry Division in combat in France, Belgium and Germany. His assignment was calculating the coordinates for the ordinance to be fired. He received the following awards and medals: Silver Star awarded for Gallantry in Action, American Defense Medal with four campaign stars, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Europe Africa Middle East Medal and four Over Seas Bars which were given every six months for overseas duty for a total of two years.

Rush was born in Tuskegee, AL, to his parents James Rivers Rush and Annie Judkins, November 10, 1922. He attended schools in Tuskegee for 12 years and graduated from Tuskegee High School before enrolling at Auburn University (Alabama Polytechnic Institute) where his ROTC class was enrolled in the Army Reserves, and instead of being drafted, the entire ROTC class was called up to Fort McPherson in Atlanta for induction in 1943. Rush rode on a train to Fort Sill, OK, standing up almost the entire time because of the over crowding of the train that was filled with young recruits. He reported to the 79th Division, 312th Field Artillery Battalion (FA, BN) for 17 weeks in OCS completing his training at the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. Rush reported to duty in Salina, KS, where he was told, “Learn what you can, observe, do nothing, stay out of the way and don’t screw up!” Rush was sent to the Battery which provided an extra four weeks of OCS which paid off as he spent time on firing problems.

When it was time for his deployment for combat in Europe, his commanding officer told him, “Make out your will and power of attorney and get ready to go overseas. I need cannon fodder that can shoot!” Rush sailed with a long convoy protected by sub chasers and destroyers from Boston to England. Arriving at Gourock, Scotland, he was sent for a few months to Leek (Stoke on Trent), England. His unit bivouacked several days before D-Day in a staging area in southern England. His unit landed D-Day plus eight days at Utah Beach on a Landing Ship Tank (LST). Rush served with C Battery, and on his first day in combat near Cherbourg, France, he served as the Forward Observer with the artillery telling the men where to shoot. Many of the infantry riflemen and replacements were hit and evacuated; but Rush survived combat without injuries. Crossing among hedgerows, communications were difficult as often the wires to the radios were severed making it impossible to string wires and to keep them working. Whenever it came almost impossible to communicate, Rush was told to use relay stations, vehicles, and cub planes with whatever was needed for setting the coordinates so that the armaments from the 155 mm Gun M1 could hit their targets. These weapons were so heavy that it took two men to pick them up and load them. By July, his division had experienced tremendous casualties. Conditions were miserable in the wet and cold of the fall as they traveled through forests. He recalls having one five minute shower during all the many weeks of combat, and most of his meals consisted of eating C-rations, a canned wet ration and K-rations for relieving hunger and sustaining energy. One gun position was his passing through the Saverne Gap adjacent to the Rhine River in November. During the trek through France, his unit was entertained by the Bing Crosby USO in a warehouse in Charmes, France. It was very cold with snow everywhere, and the roads were like a sheet of ice. He used a church steeple to view a battle scene in Haguenau, France, although his steeple was the only one not destroyed by the Germans. Rush became Battery Executive Officer after which the 79th Division was transferred to the 9th Army. His unit crossed the Rhine River and entered Germany near the Siegfried Line about the middle of December.

When WWII ended in Europe May 7, 1945, Rush’s unit was switched to Military Government guarding a large Russian POW camp in Cheb, Czechoslovakia. The unit was then sent to Tent City in Germany to train and to redeploy to the Pacific Theater to fight the Japanese; however after two Atomic Bombs were dropped on Japan, the Japanese surrendered August 15, 1945. Working with the Red Cross and the U. S. Army Military Government, he escorted displaced persons on a 50 car train to various towns in Czechoslovakia. His military duties were reaching an end. Taking a long train ride, he traveled to La Hague, France, where he caught a freighter back to New York City. Arriving at Camp Kilmer, NJ, he traveled via train to Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, GA, where he was discharged.

After discharge, he returned to Auburn, AL, where his parents then lived and resumed his collegiate studies at API graduating in 1946 with a B.S. Degree in Business. He worked for a while in a clothing store owned by his father until it was sold. Rush worked in sales and marketing for the AL Gas Company in Montgomery, AL, for many years followed by a few years in real estate until he retired at age 65. Rush was an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Montgomery, and he served as a volunteer with Meals on Wheels delivering meals to elderly. He and his wife, Margaret Meriwhether, were married more than 60 years until she passed, and they had two children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

When reflecting upon his combat service, Rush says, “I thought that I was doing a pretty good job. If they gave us decent maps, I could give them the correct coordinates for firing the ordinance. When you go in as a second lieutenant, you go in and get bad jobs, and I guess that I got every bad job. One of the soldiers that I worked with was injured, but I could never find him in the hospital. I was not particularly afraid because I didn’t have time to be afraid. As a rule, we were trying to take our objective. I remember my commander telling us that we wanted to win this war so we could all go home. I did my job to make sure the coordinates were correct.”