Technician Fourth Grade Doyle Ray Collie

Description:

Technician Fourth Grade Collie, deceased, New DeRoche, U.S. Army, WWII. Awards include the Purple Heart Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with four bronze service stars.

As a Young Man, Doyle was a star baseball player, but his love for baseball had to take a different direction after losing use of his right hand on Christmas Eve, 1944 while on a volunteer reconnaissance mission during the Battle of the Bulge. On that snowy day he and two other soldiers who had also volunteered for the mission walked up on a German Panzer Tank that had been painted white to match the snow. He was hit by shrapnel in his chest, face, right arm, hand and stomach. His intestines were shot out. His fellow soldiers got him back to camp. When he awoke on Christmas day, he found that he had been placed among the dead bodies of other American soldiers because his wounds appeared to be fatal. After catching the attention of a nurse, he underwent emergency surgery and spent the following two years in hospitals recovering from his injuries. He said it was there he learned about toughness and perseverance. As a disabled veteran, he brought those life lessons back home with him and spent the rest of his life giving to his community and to others.  Retired USMC Sergeant Major Jeff Crowe stated Mr. Collie’s life has served as an example to all of us as we serve one another and our communities. His legacy of service and sacrifice was forged on the battlefield, but continued throughout his life afterwards. a sampling of his service to his community is as follows:  Bismarck School District Board of Education, President of the Kimzey Water Board of Directors, Vice President of the Central Telephone Cooperative, Chief of the New DeRoche Volunteer Fire Department, Director of the New DeRoche ambulance service, Director of the Senior Adult Center, two terms as Hot Springs County Treasurer, Board of Governors of the Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital, as well as active in the Little League Organization for 40 years. He spent many years as a little league coach, and as president of Bismarck summer sports, President of the Bi-County Little League and Little League District Administrator for Southwestern Arkansas.

More Info:

Technician Fourth Grade Collie, deceased, New DeRoche, U.S. Army, WWII. Awards include the Purple Heart Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with four bronze service stars.