HONORED ON PANEL 42W, LINE 34 OF THE WALL
GARY DEAN COLLINS
WALL NAME
GARY D COLLINS
PANEL / LINE
42W/34
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
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REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR GARY DEAN COLLINS
POSTED ON 12.28.2021
POSTED BY: John Fabris
honoring you...
Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrances from Carol Urie are touching. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever....
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POSTED ON 10.27.2021
POSTED BY: Ronnie G. Neuway
"RONHIME" Gary's uncle Served US ARMY Korea 1964-1965
Gary told me at the lake while fishing. That he would not come back from NAM alive. I told him don't talk like that. Gary and I had a strange thing that happened to us. I was a lineman in the army which was my M.O.S. In 1965 while working on top of a telephone pole. I had a acetylene bottle hocked on my climbing belt to solder a lead cable shut. As I completed the job the regulator on the bottle exploded and I was in a ball of fire. I had to put my hands in the fire to unlock the bottle from my climbing belt. My hands and face were severely burnt which required a trip to a aid station for medical attention. As a result of my burns I received from the VA 130 % service connected disabilty.
Here's the bad part 1968 Gary was killed by fire when 2 barges exploded while serving in VIETNAM. what a odd fate a Uncle and his Nephew both burnt while serving their country three years apart.
GARY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
YOUR UNCLE RONNIE NEUWAY "RONHIME"
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POSTED ON 5.14.2018
POSTED BY: [email protected]
Ground Casualty
At 2:00 PM on September 28, 1968, two 100,000-gallon fuel barges at the Cua Viet Port facility dock at Da Nang in Quang Nam Province, RVN, exploded simultaneously from unknown causes resulting in a large fire. One of the barges was at the hard ramp while the other was at a sand ramp 200 feet away. Two naval personnel died from burns and another two were missing and presumed dead. Six more were medivacked for burns. Three naval river patrol boats were destroyed, two LCM-8 "Mike Boats" burned, and several pusher boats were either destroyed or damaged. During the blaze, small arms ammunition on the dock began cooking off. The tank landing ship USS Page County (LST-1076) played a significant role in extinguishing the fire when it approached within a few feet of the flaming pier and deployed its foam firefighting equipment. The lost naval personnel included SN Gary D. Collins, MM3 David L. Dixon, FN David P. Halpin, and MM2 Joseph D. Lilly. Dixon and Halpin were crewmembers aboard #28 boat which was engulfed by flames, forcing the crewmembers to jump into the water. Their remains were not recovered. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]
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POSTED ON 1.26.2018
POSTED BY: Darlene Labucki
I never met you Gary, but I honor you with all my heart!
I am a volunteer at a soldier's home in MASS and I hear stories all the time from the brave men and women that live there. How they wonder how they survived such a horrible war and lost so many of their friends. One day for some reason I was looking on this page and your face popped up and I just felt connected.You were so young, missed out your entire life.Thank you for your service to our country. your sacrifice of your life for all of us.. Heart felt for your family, Darlene ( I would love know about Gary, his life)
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