Frank Collins, Jr. – Colonel, United States Air Force Foreign Service Officer

From a contemporary press report

Frank Collins Jr., 89, a retired Air Force colonel, civil engineer and Foreign Service officer, died May 10, 2000 at Loudoun County Hospital. He had Parkinson’s disease.

Colonel Collins, who lived in Alexandria for more than 40 years, was a financier in his native city of Chicago before being called to active duty with the Army Air Forces in 1941.

He was assigned to Patterson Field, Ohio, and later became the post engineer. Later assignments included chief engineer of the European Air Transport Service in Germany and commanding officer of an engineer aviation battalion in Germany. Other projects included civil works and maintenance facilities for early missile systems and for a ballistic missile early warning system.

Colonel Collins also had served as deputy to the assistant secretary of Defense for properties and installations. He retired from the Air Force in 1961 as deputy chief of staff of civil engineering for the Air Force Security Service.

He then spent six years managing civil engineering projects, mainly overseas. In 1967, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service and spent more than two years in Vietnam, where he was director of large-scale infrastructure programs of the U.S. Agency for International Development and principal adviser to the Vietnamese minister of public works. At the State Department, he was a senior officer in the Vietnam desk and later the Asia bureau of AID. He retired in 1976.

He later became the Washington office director of an international environmental firm.

Colonel Collins attended American University, the University of Maryland, Cambridge University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Army Intelligence School.

He was a private pilot and a parachutist.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Ruth Turley Collins of Sterling; two sons, Frank Collins III of Helsinki and Patrick W. Collins of Washington; and five grandchildren.

COLLINS, FRANK, JR, Col, USAF (Ret.)

On May 10, 2000, in Sterling, VA. Survived by his wife, Ruth T. Collins; two sons, Patrick W. Collins of Washington, DC and Frank Collins, III of Helsinki, Finland; and five grandchildren. Graveside services will be held Friday, May 26, at 2 p.m., at Arlington National Cemetery. Donations may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 3020 Hamaker Court, Suite 401, Fairfax, VA 22031.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard