#102: A Family Legacy in Korea

A recent work trip to South Korea opened my eyes to the Collins family's four-person, two-generational association with the Second Infantry Division and the Korean Peninsula, so today I share at story and one other that I learned about at the Second Infantry Division Museum on Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea.

Today's Ghosts of Arlington are:

1. Army Major General James Lawton Collins, Sr. - Section 34, Grave 121-A
2. Army General Joseph Lawton Collins - Section 30, Grave 422
3. Army Brigadier General James Lawton Collins, Jr. - Section 34, Grave 970
4. Air Force Major General Michael Collins - Section 51, Grave 2891
5. Army Sergeant Robert Hopkins - Section 69, Grave 3420

The introduction and transition music heard on the podcast is composed and recorded by the eldest Ghosts of Arlington, Jr. While the rest of his catalogue is quite different from what he's performed for me, you can find his music on bandcamp.com under the names Caladrius and Bloodfeather.

As always, a very special thanks to the Commando Pando Cap Company for its continued help to spread the word about the podcast on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/MountainUpCapCompany Climb to Glory!

For more information about the podcast visit: 

·       The GoA website: https://www.ghostsofarlingtonpodcast.com    

·       Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ghostsofarlingtonpodcast

·       Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArlingtonGhosts

·       Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghostsofarlington/

Transcript

Episode 102: A Family Legacy in Korea

Welcome back to Ghosts of Arlington and thank you for joining me for Episode 102: A Family Legacy in Korea.

Well dear listener, after that four-week hiatus, it is good to be back. Part of the time off was for my annual trip with my dad, uncles, and cousins. It was wonderful to see all those knuckleheads again, this year at Redwood National Park in Northern California. I was also able to stop by Crater Lake National Park in Oregon and was very excited to cross not one but two more national parks off my list. So a big shout out and thanks to Alan, Jono, Pat, Brian, and Shawn for their hard work in planning this year’s retreat, and for those who weren’t there this year, we all hope to see you next year!

Another part of my time off was spent on a work trip in South Korea. While there, I was able to visit the US Second Infantry Division Museum at Camp Humphreys. Upon entering the museum, I was greeted by a junior soldier who asked me to sign the visitor log and explained the flow of the museum. The first exhibit that I saw highlighted the distinguished service history of the Collins family with the 2nd ID, one of whom has already been highlighted on the podcast. When I learned that the other three are also interred at Arlington, well, I couldn’t resist sharing the others’ stories on the podcast.

James Lawton Collins was born the third of nine children in a large Irish Catholic family in Algiers, Louisiana, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, on December 10, 1882. James’s father, Jeremiah, immigrated from County Cork Ireland as a young boy in the early 1860s to join the rest of his family who had already come to America. Shortly after immigrating, he enlisted in the Union army where he served as a drummer boy and then, at age 16, helped to drive a herd of horses into Texas to replace cavalry mounts which had been lost to the war. 

James Collins was not tall, about five feet six inches (or 168 centimeters) tall, but he was agile, athletic, and great with horses. After completing his primary education, he enrolled at Tulane University, but his mother’s uncle, the mayor of New Orleans, was asked by a local member of Congress if there was a bright young man who could quote “stay the course” at West Point. When James learned of the opportunity, possibly inspired by his father’s stories with the Union army, he decided to attend the US Military Academy and joined the class of 1907.

After graduation, the new officer was sent to the Philippines and served in the 8th cavalry and then as Major General John J. Pershing’s aide-de-camp during the Philippine Insurrection. After his service in the Philippines, he continued to follow Pershing, serving with him chasing Poncho Villa in Mexico and then to France for World War I. With the rapid increase in the military during the Great War, Collins did not remain an aide for long. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel after a decade of service, and was given command of an artillery battalion. 

After the war, he served as Army attaché to the Kingdom of Italy for a about a year, just prior to America’s entry into World War II, he was promoted to major general and given command of Second Infantry Division, which is why he has a place of prominence in the 2 ID museum. He had two senior commands during World War II – first, the Puerto Rico Department and second, the 5th Service Command based in Columbus, Ohio. He retired in 1946.

Major General James Lawton Collins died on June 30, 1963, at age 80. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 34, Grave 121-A.

[Transition Music]

James was not Jeramiah Collin’s only son to attend West Point, or to become a general officer. Joseph Lawton Collins was also born in Algiers. Louisiana, on May 1, 1896, the sixth of those nine children previously mentioned. Joeseph’s uncle was still mayor of New Orleans when it was his turn to go to college, but unlike his older brother, he needed a little more help to get into the academy. Joseph’s appointment was as an alternate, but after the first choice failed to qualify, he was able to get a spot in the class of 1917.

His class graduated early because of Americas entry into World War I, he was commissioned an infantry officer but because of additional training the army wanted him to complete, he did not make it over to Europe before the end of great war, but he did command a battalion in France in 1919, and then as a staff officer in the US Army occupying Germany in 1920 and 1921.

After returning to the US, Joseph served in West Point’s chemistry department, was promoted to captain, and then taught tactics at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Gerorgia. After promotion to major, he spent some time in the Philippines and on the eve of World War II, returned stateside and taught at the US Army War College where, in the span of about six months, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and then colonel.

Two months after Pearl Harbor, Joseph was made a brigadier general and three months after that, a major general… yeah, promotions use to come fast and furious in war time. In May 1942, the same time he became a major general, he was also given command of the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii. At 46 years old, he was the younges division commander in the Army. He took the 25th from Hawaii into action against the Japanese on Guadalcanal and then New Georgia, both in the Pacific. During the Guadalcanal campaign, he earned the nickname “Lightning Joe,” for his dash and aggression – it was also a play on the 25th Infantry Division’s nickname, “Tropic Lightning.”

 After his successful actions in the Pacific, “Lighting Joe” was transferred to the European Theater of Operation where he commanded the VII Corps in the allied invasion of Normandy. He would command the Corps for the rest of the war. At age 47, he was now the youngest corps commander in the Army.

VII Corps played a major role in the Normandy landings, the subsequent breakout of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the invasion of Germany. As one of the few senior US commanders to serve in both the Pacific and in Europe, he constated the enemy in the two theaters of war this way: 

“The German was far more skilled than the Japanese. Most of the Japanese we fought were not skilled men. Not skilled leaders. The German had a professional army… The Japanese… didn’t know how to handle combined arms – the artillery and support of the infantry – to the same extent we did. They were gallant soldiers, though… They fought very, very hard, but they were not nearly as skillful as the Germans. But the German didn’t have the tenacity of the Japanese.”

After the war, the Germans said they considered Lightning Joe one of the top two corps commanders on the Western Front and Five Star General Omar Bradley said that despite his youth, if they had created another Army level command in Europe (an army commander has two or more corps under his command), it would have gone to Joseph.

After the war, he was promted to lieutenant general and served as the deputy commanding general and chief of staff of Army Ground Forces from August – December 1945, then director of information (what today would be chief of public affairs) from 1946-1947. From ’47 – ’49 he was the Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army and prmoted to general. In August 1949, he became the Army Chief of Staff and served as the senior US Army officer for the entirety of the Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950. His service as Army Chief of Staff during the Korean War is why his has a place of prominence in the Second Infantry Division Museum. 2 ID was one of the major army units engaged in the Korean War.

As a wartime chief of staff, his primary responsibility was to ensure that adequately trained and equipped soldiers were sent to fight in Korea. He directed the Arm’s operations of the railroads, brought the first Special Forces Group into the order of battle, and was closely associated with the development of the army’s contribution to the newly established North American Treaty Organization – or NATO.

After the Korean War ended in July 1953, he became the US representative to the NATO Standing Group and Military Committee until 1954, became a special representative of the United States to Vietnam in 1955, and then returned to his NATO positions. He retired from active service in March 1956 after nearly forty years of military service.

General Joesph Lawton “Lightning Joe” Collins died in Washington, DC on September 12, 1987 at the age of 91. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 30, Grave 422.

[TRANSITION MUSIC]

James Lawton Collins, Jr. was born in El Paso, Texas on November 5, 1917 to future army Major General James Collins, Sr., the first officer featured in this episode. James, Jr. followed his father James, Sr. and his uncle “Lighting Joe” to West Point. He graduated in 1939 and joined the Field Artillery.

James, Jr. learned about Pearl Harbor while serving as the aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the Puerto Rico department (aka his father). On January 1, 1942, he joined the 25th Field Artillery Battalion and a month later, he was promoted to captain and took command of Bravo battery.

By October 1943, he was a major commanding the 957th field artillery battalion which had been training in the US and was now on its way to England. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel May 1, 1944 and on June 13, the 957th landed at Utah Beach a week after D-Day operating in support of VII Corps… and yes, that is the corps commanded by his uncle (but to be fair, while it might have been nepotism to service as his father’s aide-de-camp, it probably wasn’t when he was a battalion commander in his uncle’s corps).

While fighting in France, the 957th suffered 35 casualties, including 13 killed, when it was mistakenly bombed by US aircraft. James, Jr. was one of those wounded, but remained at his post. The 957th participated in all the major campaigns of tVII Corps including the breakout of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Invasion of Germany.

After the war, James, Jr. remained in Europe until mid-1947. From 1947-1950, he returned to the US, studied at the Naval War College and the University of Virginia, and taught at the US Army Command and General Staff College. From 1951-1954, he returned to Europe, where he served London and then NATO, before returning stateside to attend the Army War College. From 1955-1958 he served in the office of the Chief of Staff.

A polyglot, fluent in French, Italian, Germany, and Spanish, he commanded the Army Language School – the Defense Language Institute – Monterey, CA from 1959-1963 and was the first director of the Washington, DC Defense Language site. He then served two years as a special assistant to General William Westmoreland in Vietnam, before returning to Washington as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence three years, and a final three years as the commander of the V Corps artillery in West Germany. He retired from the Army as a brigadier general in 1970, but was recalled to active duty as the chief of military history. In this role, he oversaw the production of a wide range of works on American military history. His works include War in Peacetime: The History and Lessons of Korea and several works on World War II and Vietnam. He served as President of the US Commission on Military History and the Council on America’s Military Past. He was also a member of the International Commission of Miltiary Historians that investigated the wartime service of Kurt Waldheim, former president of Austria and Secretary-General of the UN, which found evidence of war crimes during his WWII service in the Wehrmacht.

After retiring a second time in 1982, he began a new career as a viticulturist, becoming a member of a Virginia wine cooperative and grower of grapes in Middleburg, Virginia, where he died on May 6, 2002, at age 84. Brigadier General James Lawton Collins, Jr. is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 34, Grave 970. The Brigadier General James L. Collins Book Prize for Military History is named in his honor.

[TRANSITION MUSIC]

The fourth and final person on the wall at the Second Infantry Division Museum was the son of Major General James, Sr. and the brother of Brigadier General James, Jr. – Air Force Major General Michael Collins, yes, that Michael Collins; the Michael Collins who played such a major role in the space race and was eulogized back in Episode 66.

Like his father, uncle, and brother, Michael Collins also went to West Point. He attended after the Air Force was created in 1947 but before the Air Force got its own academy in 1954. When he graduated, his father was a retired major general, his uncle was chief of staff, and his brother was already a colonel. He wanted to make his own name for himself and he wanted to be a pilot so when he was given the chance to commission into the air force, he took it. He still ended up with a cool connection to the 2nd Infantry Division though.

When Michael Collins orbited the moon during the Apollo XI mission, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren were down on the surface, he carried one of the 2nd ID patches his father wore while commanding the division, into space with him. James, Sr. in 1963, six years before Apollo XI. Though I have already eulogized Michael Collins, I will reiterate that after he passed away on April 28, 2021, he was interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 51, Grave 2891.

[TRANSITION MUSIC]

While the story of four Collins, across two generations, who all became general officers and who all had a connection in one way or another to the Second Infantry Division, was cool, I learned another story at the 2 ID museum that really blew me away. Fortunately, this story also involves a ghost of Arlington so I can share it as I wrap up today’s podcast.

This story takes place in World War II and surrounds Army Sergeant Robert Hopkins, the enlisted chaplain from the 38th Field Artillery Battalion, Second Infantry Division. That right there is the first new thing I learned, that at one point in time, there were enlisted chaplains. I have only known about commissioned chaplains and enlisted chaplain assistants, but even the display at the Army-run Museum calls Hopkins an enlisted chaplain, not a chaplain assistant.

Sergeant Hopkins was captured Krinkelt, Belgium by the German army in December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge and was force marched with 2300 other American POWs to the Germany POW Camp Stalag VIIIA near the Polish boarder.

Hopkins said, “Within two weeks of being a prisoner, it was my sad job to bury over 700 American soldiers. Not because they were all worn out. Not because they were ready to die but because somebody didn’t want them to live. The Germans would shoot them for sport.”

He officiated the first formal military funeral service inside Germany for American POW Bruce Schalm in January 1945. The Germans agreed to allow a US flag to be used for the service and for Schalm to be buried in a makeshift casket made of boards bound with wire. According to Hopkins, “Prison corpses were normally stripped and tossed in an open pit.”

They were given permission to use a US flag, but no one had a flag, so they improvised. Hopkins recalled, “The flag… was made from two sugar bags, which two British soldiers stole from the camp. It was painted with blue and red dye mixed with blood [which] was easy to come by. Soldiers were always bleeding to death.”

Prison guards photographed the funeral service and intended to use them for propaganda purposes, but POWs stole the pictures and the negatives which infuriated the guards.

“Three days later, I watched two British soldiers being shot to death by having bullets fired into their feet, then evey six inches up their bodies until they died. Their last words were, ‘Don’t let them find the flag, use it for the memory of all who die.’”

When Hopkins was transferred to another Stalag, he took the flag with him. Not only did he use the flag in more than 300 memorial services, he also used it to record the names of all of his fellow prisoners until he escaped.

After the war, he returned to the US and became a Methodist Minister in Natural Bridge, Virginia. Hopkins’s son Norman, who served as an Army sergeant in Vietnam, said his father often told the story of the flag, which sat in a cupboard of their home while he was growing up. “When I was young, I used to see the flag and hold it in my hands. Dad would tell me about the British soldiers who got shot because they would not give it up. The flag meant a lot to my dad and it means a lot to me.

In 1979, Hopkins donated the flag and one of his bibles to the Second Infantry Division Museum which at that time was located at Camp Red Cloud, between the DMZ and Seoul. After Hopkins died on June 24, 2004 at age 85, the decision was made to use the makeshift flag one more time, its first funeral since World War II. Museum Technicial Incah Koslosky prepared the flag for its journey; it was shipped from Korea to Virginia and draped over Hopkins casket for his Arlington Burial. During the funeral service, the flag was folded by an honor guard and returned to Korea and the museum. 

Today, the flag remains in the same folded position (now in a frame) in which it was placed nearly twenty years ago now. Sergeant Robert James Hopkins was interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 69, Grave 3420. I will post the pictures I took of Hopkins’s flag and bible, and the 2nd ID patch that Michael Collins took with him into space on the podcast website, www.ghostsofarlingtonpodcast.com.

Speaking of which, if you need more Ghosts of Arlington content in your life, you can find photos related to all podcast episodes on that website. And if you’ve ever wanted to ask me, hey Jackson, you have no advertisers and no advertising budget to make others aware of the podcast – is there anything I can do to help increase your listeners? Well, thanks for asking and yes, there are a few ways to help. You can tell your friends and anyone else you think might like the podcast about it, AND, AND, you can leave a 5-star rating and review at Apple Podcast or wherever you listen; and if you’re not an apple listener, leave a review where you listen, but there is nothing stopping you from ALSO leaving a rating at Apple Podcast. Ratings and reviews on that site at by far the most helpful to a podcast, especially a small, independent podcast. And as always, in the words of friend of the podcast Ben Frankin, fear not death, for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.