This is Charlie Collins' boot camp graduation picture in 1943 when he was 17 years old. He flew as nose gunner on a B-24 bomber in the 15th Air Force in Italy during World War II. Photo provided
Former Staff Sgt. Charlie Collins of Brookside Bluff mobile home park north of Arcadia was a member of “The Cottontails.” He flew as nose gunner in a B-24 “Liberator” four-engine bomber during World War II. His bomb group had cotton bulbs painted on their tails, thus the “Cottontails” moniker.
Sgt. John Beck at 24 when he served as the commander of a tank destroyer in the 3rd Army during World War II.
It was the day after Christmas 1944 when the 704th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division of Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army broke through the German lines at Bastogne to rescue the 101st Airborne Division, dug in and holding back the enemy onslaught at the Battle of the Bulge.
Former Sgt. John Beck Jr. of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. and the other four soldiers in his tank destroyer were in the thick of it. Read the rest of this entry »
