Sergeant Donald E Collins
Donald Eugene Collins was born in Miami, Florida on June 24th, 1922 to Mable Lynes and Jasper Collins, her second husband. After graduating Miami Edison High School in 1940, Donald attended the University of Florida and played as a lineman for the Florida Gators. Unfortunately, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on the Axis powers interrupted his college experience. Eager to serve his country, Donald left his football career behind and enlisted in the US Marine Corps on December 12th, 1942. He was quickly shipped off to San Diego, California where he completed boot camp and underwent further training to become a .30 caliber machine gunner. In April of 1943, Private Collins was placed in the 14th Replacement Battalion and sent to Camp Murphy, Australia to join Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division who needed new soldiers after fighting on Guadalcanal earlier in the year. After meeting up with his new unit on June 14th, he began training with them in preparation for the Battle of Cape Gloucester. After a few months of training, Private Collins and his regiment left Australia and landed on Goodenough Island in Papua New Guinea, a position much closer to their future objective. While stationed here, Collins received his first promotion to Private First Class on October 1st.
Cape Gloucester
With the beginning of the offensive rapidly approaching, the 1st Marines left the island on December 21st and joined up with the invasion force, and in the early morning hours of the 26th, allied ships and airplanes began their preliminary bombardment; the Battle of Cape Gloucester had begun. At 7:46 AM, the 7th Marines raced to the Yellow Beaches in the northwest area of the island and encountered light resistance when they reached the shores. Pfc Collin’s 1st Marines quickly followed behind at 8:15 AM, landed, and passed through the front line and began their advance on the strategic airfields. Here, they encountered the first organized Japanese defense from a series of camouflaged bunkers that wreaked havoc amongst the Marines until an Amtrac managed to crush one, which allowed the rest to be eliminated shortly after. They had just encountered what was to be dubbed “Hell’s Point,” a maze of bunkers and trenches that lay between them and the airfield. At 11:00 on the 28th, the attack resumed with the arrival of reinforcements and M4 tanks that shattered the defenses with the loss of only nine Marines. Three days later, the airfield was captured. Combat on Cape Gloucester was particularly difficult, not just from the Japanese, but also due to the weather and landscape. Pfc Collins fought through swamps, thick foliage, and undergrowth which forced the Marines to hack their way through the jungle or bypass areas completely. Not to mention the constant rain and biting insects that dropped morale and made life miserable. Nevertheless, the 1st Marines pushed onwards to trap the remaining enemy in western New Britain, with Pfc Collins’ Company L pursuing them towards Mount Talawe on January 15th, 1944, where they discovered the main east-west route from Sag Sag to Natamo Point on the northern coast unoccupied. Immediately, they exploited the gap, and just as they were about to reach Mount Talawe, stiff enemy resistance delayed the Marines long enough to enable the Japanese command to retreat along the northern coast. Once they realized what had happened, the allies began to pursue him for months. Pfc Collins and the 3rd Battalion took over the pursuit effort on April 9th, but by that time nearly all of the Japanese had left the island or were killed, and instead they conducted mop up operations until they boarded the USS President Hayes and left the island on the 24th, nearly four months after the invasion began.
Pavuvu
If the Marines thought they would be on the way to a nice camp for rest and refit, they would be in for a surprise. On April 28th, the 1st Marines landed at Pavuvu Island and were met with an island bare of any structures, electricity, supplies of fresh food, and plagued by a never ending population of rats and crabs. To make matters worse, rotting coconuts littered the grounds and rain was frequent. Before the island was made habitable, the Marines lived in constant misery and many angrily said that they would rather be in combat than stationed on the tiny island. Unfortunately, that would come true soon.
Cape Gloucester
With the beginning of the offensive rapidly approaching, the 1st Marines left the island on December 21st and joined up with the invasion force, and in the early morning hours of the 26th, allied ships and airplanes began their preliminary bombardment; the Battle of Cape Gloucester had begun. At 7:46 AM, the 7th Marines raced to the Yellow Beaches in the northwest area of the island and encountered light resistance when they reached the shores. Pfc Collin’s 1st Marines quickly followed behind at 8:15 AM, landed, and passed through the front line and began their advance on the strategic airfields. Here, they encountered the first organized Japanese defense from a series of camouflaged bunkers that wreaked havoc amongst the Marines until an Amtrac managed to crush one, which allowed the rest to be eliminated shortly after. They had just encountered what was to be dubbed “Hell’s Point,” a maze of bunkers and trenches that lay between them and the airfield. At 11:00 on the 28th, the attack resumed with the arrival of reinforcements and M4 tanks that shattered the defenses with the loss of only nine Marines. Three days later, the airfield was captured. Combat on Cape Gloucester was particularly difficult, not just from the Japanese, but also due to the weather and landscape. Pfc Collins fought through swamps, thick foliage, and undergrowth which forced the Marines to hack their way through the jungle or bypass areas completely. Not to mention the constant rain and biting insects that dropped morale and made life miserable. Nevertheless, the 1st Marines pushed onwards to trap the remaining enemy in western New Britain, with Pfc Collins’ Company L pursuing them towards Mount Talawe on January 15th, 1944, where they discovered the main east-west route from Sag Sag to Natamo Point on the northern coast unoccupied. Immediately, they exploited the gap, and just as they were about to reach Mount Talawe, stiff enemy resistance delayed the Marines long enough to enable the Japanese command to retreat along the northern coast. Once they realized what had happened, the allies began to pursue him for months. Pfc Collins and the 3rd Battalion took over the pursuit effort on April 9th, but by that time nearly all of the Japanese had left the island or were killed, and instead they conducted mop up operations until they boarded the USS President Hayes and left the island on the 24th, nearly four months after the invasion began.
Pavuvu
If the Marines thought they would be on the way to a nice camp for rest and refit, they would be in for a surprise. On April 28th, the 1st Marines landed at Pavuvu Island and were met with an island bare of any structures, electricity, supplies of fresh food, and plagued by a never ending population of rats and crabs. To make matters worse, rotting coconuts littered the grounds and rain was frequent. Before the island was made habitable, the Marines lived in constant misery and many angrily said that they would rather be in combat than stationed on the tiny island. Unfortunately, that would come true soon.
Peleliu On August 25th, Pfc Collins boarded LST 127 and participated in landing exercises in preparation for the invasion of Peleliu before converging with the Task Force and arriving off the island on September 14th. After naval ships pounded the coast, the 1st Marine Regiment raced towards the White Beaches the very next day and landed at 8:32 AM. Unlike their other amphibious landings, their assault was hotly contested from the start. Pfc Collins’ 3rd Battalion was hit the worst by a combination of mortars, artillery, machine guns and small arms fire.”I was nicked in the arm by a sniper before I had run 25 yards on the beach” recalled Pfc Collins. Disregarding the wound, “we pushed on in and I set up my machine gun” before they were halted by a deadly, thirty foot high coral ridge honeycombed with occupied caves that raked the Marine line and pushed back all of the initial assaults. Shortly after the ridge was taken with heavy casualties, “I got hit in the leg by a piece of shrapnel” said Pfc Collins, and he was pulled back to an aid station and evacuated to Manus Island’s USFH #108 via the USS Pinkney, and then to Guadalcanal to recover. “I consider myself lucky, for out of my section of 13, only three were left in the battle.” This situation was unfortunately too common for members of the 1st Marines, who were pulled from Peleliu by mid October due to suffering 58% casualties and transported back to Pavuvu. Pfc Collins would join his unit’s rear echelon there on the 5th of October until returning to what was left of his Company when they arrived on the island. |
Okinawa
The island was finally a habitable and comfortable rest stop for the Marines, far cry from what it resembled when they first landed there. On December 19th, Collins was promoted to Sergeant, and after receiving replacements, left Pavuvu via the USS New Kent on February 23rd and began their journey to capture the island of Okinawa. First though, they sailed to Guadalcanal to conduct landing exercises before converging outside Okinawa with the rest of the invasion force. Finally, on April 1st, 1945, the attack was set in motion. Ships pounded the beach with the largest concentration of naval gunfire to ever support an amphibious landing, and at 8:30 AM, the first wave of troops touched down on the beaches. Encountering almost no enemy resistance, Sgt Collins and the 1st Marines quickly advanced from their landing site north of the Bishi River with ease and reached the eastern shore of the island after three days. The Marines were puzzled by the lack of Japanese they had encountered, but they would soon discover that the enemy commander had a different approach to the invasion. Instead of fighting on the beach, they would centralize their defense around a fortified position inland and deny the use of the island to the allies for as long as possible.
The Army units on the island encountered this first and suffered many casualties from enemy emplacements. The 27th Infantry Division was particularly hard hit, so after Sgt Collins and his division were finished capturing the northern part of the island, they moved to the south and relieved them on April 30th, with the 1st Marines on the west coast. Their objective now was to reach the northern banks of the Asa River, but a series of hills and ridges bustling with enemy troops lay between it. Attempts to advance on the 30th, May 1st and the 2nd were beaten back with heavy casualties. While the Marines planned what to do, the Japanese did as well. On May 3rd, enemy troops loaded on landing craft to land behind the front line and attack. Unfortunately for them, they veered off course and reached an area that was heavily defended and were decimated by accurate fire. Those who landed elsewhere did not fare better, and the assault cost the enemy 800 dead. On the 6th, Sgt Collins and the 1st Marines turned east and attacked Hill 60, which was covered by intertwining fire from surrounding hills and ridges. Two attacks were beaten back from gunfire located on the nearby Nan Hill which had to be taken first before continuing. This was completed by May 9th, and Hill 60 was captured by the end of the day, but the effort had cost the Marines heavy casualties. As other elements of the 1st Marine Division fought for Dakeshi Ridge, Sgt Collins and his regiment advanced towards Hill 55 which was hindering all assaults on the Shuri Heights. On May 13th, they coordinated their attack on the hill with the 7th Marines’ attack on the ridge, but all efforts to fully capture it were repulsed by a seemingly endless swarm of Japanese.
Suffering large amounts of casualties, Sgt Collins and the 1st Marines were relieved on the 14th until their replacing unit did not have the strength to continue. So, they rejoined the fight for Wana Ridge on the 19th, and led a two pronged assault the next day. By dusk, they held part of the ridge but not 100 Meter Hill. Sgt Collins’ 3rd Battalion had only gained 200 yards on the west slope after intense close quarters combat, and the next day yielded no better results. To make matters worse, the 22nd of May brought down heavy rains on the Marines that made any advances impossible as the terrain soon resembled a lake of rain and mud.
The island was finally a habitable and comfortable rest stop for the Marines, far cry from what it resembled when they first landed there. On December 19th, Collins was promoted to Sergeant, and after receiving replacements, left Pavuvu via the USS New Kent on February 23rd and began their journey to capture the island of Okinawa. First though, they sailed to Guadalcanal to conduct landing exercises before converging outside Okinawa with the rest of the invasion force. Finally, on April 1st, 1945, the attack was set in motion. Ships pounded the beach with the largest concentration of naval gunfire to ever support an amphibious landing, and at 8:30 AM, the first wave of troops touched down on the beaches. Encountering almost no enemy resistance, Sgt Collins and the 1st Marines quickly advanced from their landing site north of the Bishi River with ease and reached the eastern shore of the island after three days. The Marines were puzzled by the lack of Japanese they had encountered, but they would soon discover that the enemy commander had a different approach to the invasion. Instead of fighting on the beach, they would centralize their defense around a fortified position inland and deny the use of the island to the allies for as long as possible.
The Army units on the island encountered this first and suffered many casualties from enemy emplacements. The 27th Infantry Division was particularly hard hit, so after Sgt Collins and his division were finished capturing the northern part of the island, they moved to the south and relieved them on April 30th, with the 1st Marines on the west coast. Their objective now was to reach the northern banks of the Asa River, but a series of hills and ridges bustling with enemy troops lay between it. Attempts to advance on the 30th, May 1st and the 2nd were beaten back with heavy casualties. While the Marines planned what to do, the Japanese did as well. On May 3rd, enemy troops loaded on landing craft to land behind the front line and attack. Unfortunately for them, they veered off course and reached an area that was heavily defended and were decimated by accurate fire. Those who landed elsewhere did not fare better, and the assault cost the enemy 800 dead. On the 6th, Sgt Collins and the 1st Marines turned east and attacked Hill 60, which was covered by intertwining fire from surrounding hills and ridges. Two attacks were beaten back from gunfire located on the nearby Nan Hill which had to be taken first before continuing. This was completed by May 9th, and Hill 60 was captured by the end of the day, but the effort had cost the Marines heavy casualties. As other elements of the 1st Marine Division fought for Dakeshi Ridge, Sgt Collins and his regiment advanced towards Hill 55 which was hindering all assaults on the Shuri Heights. On May 13th, they coordinated their attack on the hill with the 7th Marines’ attack on the ridge, but all efforts to fully capture it were repulsed by a seemingly endless swarm of Japanese.
Suffering large amounts of casualties, Sgt Collins and the 1st Marines were relieved on the 14th until their replacing unit did not have the strength to continue. So, they rejoined the fight for Wana Ridge on the 19th, and led a two pronged assault the next day. By dusk, they held part of the ridge but not 100 Meter Hill. Sgt Collins’ 3rd Battalion had only gained 200 yards on the west slope after intense close quarters combat, and the next day yielded no better results. To make matters worse, the 22nd of May brought down heavy rains on the Marines that made any advances impossible as the terrain soon resembled a lake of rain and mud.
For Sgt Collins however, this would be his last day at the front. Due to his performance in the field, he was transferred out of his company and arrived in the United States on June 7th to join the Officer Applicants Battalion at Camp Lejeune. Here, Sgt Collins would go through rigorous courses to become an officer, but with the Japanese surrender finally occurring on September 2nd, 1945, Sgt Collins wanted to return home instead of furthering his career and was honorably discharged near the end of the year. |
Home
Returning to Miami, Donald went back to the University of Florida to get his Accounting degree and married Marie Martin on June 26th, 1946. Later in life, he became a senior auditor for many years until getting a job as a general building contractor in Brevard County. Finally, Donald felt a calling with the Christian ministry and received a Master’s Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He became the Minister of Education and Church Administration in Southern Baptist churches in Florida, Georgia, and Texas before retiring in 1984 to travel the country with his wife. With the passing of Marie in 2013, Donald moved to Texas to live with his son before passing away there on May 21st, 2019 and is buried at Sarasota National Cemetery.
Returning to Miami, Donald went back to the University of Florida to get his Accounting degree and married Marie Martin on June 26th, 1946. Later in life, he became a senior auditor for many years until getting a job as a general building contractor in Brevard County. Finally, Donald felt a calling with the Christian ministry and received a Master’s Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He became the Minister of Education and Church Administration in Southern Baptist churches in Florida, Georgia, and Texas before retiring in 1984 to travel the country with his wife. With the passing of Marie in 2013, Donald moved to Texas to live with his son before passing away there on May 21st, 2019 and is buried at Sarasota National Cemetery.