Wednesday, June 30, saw a midday gathering of family, friends, veterans, law enforcement officers, and Patriot Riders, as Pickens Countian, Sergeant David Collins, killed in Iraq, received an overdue honor. Collins gave his life April 9, 2006, while serving with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division at Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
He grew up not far from the spot where State Highway 515 now intersects Philadelphia Road. A resolution, passed by the Georgia Legislature in 2007, authorized the Georgia Department of Transportation to place signs at the intersection, designating it in Collins’ honor.
But follow-through on the measure lagged until recently when local television personality, Cherie Martin, revisited the question of the yet missing signage.
Martin contacted newly elected State House Representative Rick Jasperse about turning the resolution on paper into an honor in reality. Jasperse phoned the state DOT office. A DOT sign shop in Cartersville quickly made the necessary signs. A DOT road crew as quickly put the signs in place.
"Today is an amazing day," Martin told the large audience gathered on a green area at the southwest corner of the newly marked Collins Memorial Interchange.
A crowd surpassing a hundred, including Collins family members, sat beneath large tents, surrounded at a distance by ranks of Patriot Riders arranged in a square, each rider holding an American flag. A squad of Sheriff's Deputies stood in ranks to one side, faced by the DAV Honor Guard at the opposite side of the green. The overcast day fit the sober reason for the gathering.
"It took three years," Martin continued. "We now have three beautiful signs up, honoring a fallen soldier."
"It was very important to me to have these signs up before the Fourth of July," she said. "Thousands of cars will pass here this week. I want everyone to know about David Samuel Collins, what he meant to me, what he meant to this community."
"The reason we're gathered here," the Reverend Von Hinton said in an opening prayer, "is to honor one of our community who was willing to serve his country and our country even to the point of sacrificing his own life."
Representative Jasperse read from the legislative resolution authorizing designation of the intersection to honor Collins. "This courageous soldier," Jasperse read, "an American patriot, volunteered to confront the dangers, privations, and discomforts of wartime service and, in the name of humanity, strove to keep the peace in Iraq with fortitude and steadfast resolve, making us, as a nation, truly proud."
"All Americans owe a debt of gratitude," Jasperse continued, "to the men and women of our armed forces who risk their lives in defense of freedom, securing the blessings of liberty for this nation and other peoples of the world."
Hearers rose for the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem. A 21-gun salute followed, presented by riflemen of the Disabled American Veterans Honor Guard. Immediately, a trumpeter began blowing Taps.
And as suddenly, spectators became aware of a quiet stillness in place. Road noise lulled. Traffic stood still in four directions, held by command of Sheriff's officers and Jasper Police. It felt as if the world paused to honor David Collins at a place he touched in youth, a place now to bear his name and his memory.
After the ceremony, Magistrate Allen Wigington talked of meeting Collins' casket at the Atlanta Airport in 2006 as the soldier's body was returned from overseas. A Pickens County Deputy Sheriff then, Wigington performed escort duty along with the Georgia State Patrol to see Collins' remains safely back to Jasper.
Airport officials directed county law enforcement vehicles onto the tarmac, Wigington remembers, where they drew up beside the incoming plane as it stood at an embarkation gate.
The whole area was a swirl of activity, Wigington said, until bystanders realized a fallen soldier was on his homeward journey.
"They opened the hatch on that plane, and it was like everything at the airport stopped," he said. Passengers aboard observed from the plane’s small windows. Others waiting at the gate stood behind large plate glass, watching as Collins’ casket came from the plane. Men on the ground stood still in mute respect.
"It was chilling to me," Wigington said. "It was a fitting memorial." |
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| PHOTO BY JEFF WARREN |
| Children of Mara and the late Sergeant David Collins, James and Elizabeth Collins hold a smaller version of signs now marking the intersection of Highway 515 and Philadelphia Road in honor of their soldier father, killed in Iraq. |
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