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2101472nd Lt. La Verne "Rip" Collins
United States Army Airforce 31fg 309fs
from:Coalgate, Oklahoma
(d.19th August 1942)
My uncle, La Verne Collins, was a Chickasaw Indian from Coalgate, Oklahoma. Barnstormers came to the fair and he went up in a plane and that was that. He enlisted and was at the raid on Dieppe, August 19, 1942 flying a spitfire. He was shot down like his friend Samuel F. Junkin of Natchez, Mississippi. He was picked up by a ship, he did not survive but his friend Junkin did.
Additional Information:
My father (309th Squadron) was your Uncle’s roommate when they first arrived in England in June, 1942. He talks about their first days training in “Spits”. He recalled your Uncle lost a wheel while trying to land, had to go around and execute a belly landing, which he did successfully. He also writes with great concern and worry the days after Dieppe as he didn’t know where your Uncle was or if he was alive? Not knowing, He expresses concern if he was shot down and captured? Days later, he learned the unfortunate news.John Tharpe
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