On the recordApril 15, 2010
I rise today to honor the life and selfless commitment of 1LT Robert Collins to the U.S. Army and to our Nation. While many other young Americans his age were headed back to school from spring break, LT Collins died April 7, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle on the streets of Mosul, Iraq. He was 24 years old. It is time the American people know a bit more about this young man who sacrificed for his country his life, his family and all his potential, giving up all that he had, and all that he was going to be. LT Collins was both a native Georgian, and was based in Georgia. He hailed from the small town of Tyrone in Fayette County, where he played football under the Friday night lights at Sandy Creek High School, 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 on Sunday mornings. Later, he became a member of the local American Legion Post 105 in Fayetteville, GA. For me, the death of LT Collins is particularly sobering. Robert was one of my first nominees to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in the fall of 2003, and was offered an appointment there the following spring. He graduated from West Point in 2008. He became one of the stalwarts of B Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, GA. He deployed to Iraq in the autumn of 2009. LT Collins served as his platoon's commander.
