[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 105 (Thursday, July 15, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S5946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                    Lieutenant Robert Wilson Collins

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
join me and my colleague, Senator Isakson, in honoring the life and 
commitment of 1LT Robert Collins of Tyrone, GA.
  Lieutenant Collins grew up in the small town of Tyrone in Fayette 
County, where he attended Sandy Creek High School, played football on 
Friday nights, where he became a standout student that would take him 
to the halls of West Point, and where he attended Hopewell United 
Methodist Church with his family every Sunday morning.
  On the 7th of April 2010, Lieutenant Collins made the ultimate 
sacrifice when an improvised explosive device detonated near his 
vehicle on the streets of Mosul, Iraq. He was 24 years old.
  To me, it is a particularly difficult situation because Lieutenant 
Collins was one of my appointees to West Point. He graduated from West 
Point in 2008 and became an officer in B Company, 1st Battalion, 64th 
Regiment of the Armor Unit, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort 
Stewart, GA. He deployed to Iraq in the autumn of 2009.
  Lieutenant Collins served as his platoon's commander. While in Iraq, 
his unit was charged with improving security and the quality of life 
for the Iraqi people. He and his men also provided security for the 
recent successful Iraqi elections. They were dedicated to the goal of a 
democratic Iraq and sought to help its people lead normal, safe lives.
  Robert's friends have described him as a man of great compassion. He 
was a natural leader who truly found a calling in the honor and 
patriotism of service in the U.S. Army. He has been described by his 
superiors as a young man who performed his duties courageously, without 
hesitation, and without reservations because, after all, he was a 
soldier in the U.S. Army.
  As a small token of gratitude and remembrance for the ultimate 
sacrifice paid by Lieutenant Collins, I am pleased to join Senator 
Isakson in urging our colleagues to rename the post office in Tyrone, 
GA, as the ``1st Lt. Robert Wilson Collins Post Office Building'' in 
Lieutenant Collins' honor. Nothing we can do can ever repay the debt 
and the ultimate sacrifice this young man has made, but this will 
ensure his name lives on, not just in his friends' and families' hearts 
but in the heart of his hometown.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I am pleased to join the senior Senator 
from Georgia, my friend Saxby Chambliss, to pay tribute today to Robert 
Collins.
  This naming of a post office is most appropriate in Tyrone, GA, and 
it is most appropriate because of the great sacrifice of this young 
man, whose story, as Senator Chambliss says, is compelling.
  One interesting point I wish to make is that he was the son of two 
lieutenant colonels retired from the U.S. military. His mother, LTC 
Sharon L.G. Collins, and his father, LTC Burkitt ``Deacon'' Collins, 
spent more than 20 years in the U.S. military.
  His mother said: We never asked him to follow us into the family 
business--being the military--but he did follow us into the family 
business in large measure because of what happened on 9/11/2001.
  Following that tragic day in American history when he watched the 
terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, he expressed to his parents a 
desire to join the U.S. military. His mother responded, along with his 
father, by making an appointment for him to visit West Point. They 
dressed him up in his very best outfit and took him to West Point.
  Upon leaving Tyrone, one of his friends stopped him before he got in 
the car to go to West Point and said: Why are you dressed up so well?
  He said: Because my mom and dad are colonels.
  That is the kind of young man he was--respect for his parents, the 
U.S. military, and the greatness of our country.
  He applied to West Point. Senator Chambliss appointed him to West 
Point, and he was there with distinction. And later in 2009, he went 
off to serve the U.S. military. Unfortunately, on April 7, he made the 
ultimate sacrifice for the people of this country.
  It is only appropriate in every way possible that we pay tribute to 
the young men and young women who sacrifice for us so all of us can 
enjoy the freedom of our country.
  I am pleased, I am honored, and I am proud to join Senator Chambliss 
in naming this post office in Tyrone, GA, after First Lieutenant 
Collins, who was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor 
Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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