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"Pink" Collins' records - 49th NC]
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Collins Boys Photos- 49th NC and 4th Armored Division, 3rd Army
Above are 2 war time photos of soldiers in the same family, 80 years apart. My
great-great uncles, Henry and James Collins and my father Alex Collins. The
reason I included my Dad's W.W.II photo was the errie resemblance to his great-uncle
James. Dad grew up in Winston Salem, NC. Henry and James grew up in
neighboring Iredell County.
The photo on the left is from the bloodiest war the United States was involved with, the Civil War. Henry and James Collins were in the 49th NC Infantry. The 49th was in Longstreet's Corps of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and then later detached south to their native state to guard the Weldon Railroad. They were sent back north when Grant started the Petersburg Siege. Henry was shot by a sniper in the trenches there at Petersburg, and died 2 days later on June 24th, 1864. He was 20 years old. It was a gut shot, very few soldiers survived those. James survived the war and lived till the turn of the century. To see Henry's records click here. To see James records click here. By the way, James is referred to as Pink Collins in the regimental history. His middle name was Pinkey.
The photo on the right is of my father Alex G. Collins during the second bloodiest war, WWII. He was attached to Patton's 3rd Army, 4th Armored Division. He was a T5-Corporal and radioman in a Sherman tank. This picture was taken around 1943. Speaking of Patton, funny story. My Dad was yelled at by Patton for not having his helmet on while servicing his tank antennae. As soon as Patton left their camp, my Dad's lieutenant told him "Don't worry Collins, I'm not writing you up, that old man's crazy"! Dad still hates Patton nearly 60 years later! Check out his war record here.