Biography
In the small town of Nevada, Iowa, Harvey and Leota Collins marked the new year of 1929 with the birth of a son on January 26. Max Harvey Collins was the first of three boys born into the Collins family. Richard arrived two years later. And when Max and Richard were 10 and 8 years old, Robert was born.
Harvey and Leota Collins raised the boys in rural Story County on a farm. The Collins family sold milk and eggs, and they also farmed 100 acres east of Nevada. They grew corn, soybeans, and oats. The boys all learned to weld at a young age, so they could help fix the farm equipment.
A favorite fun activity on the farm involved zip-line type ride Harvey built for the boys over a creek. The boys would climb up a platform, grab the rope and sit on the stuffed grain-sack seat, and zip across the creek and back again. It took perfect timing to get all the way back to the other side of the water without getting wet!
Max always wanted to fly, and he was fascinated with airplanes. One time, Max ordered a particularly complex balsa wood model airplane kit through the Sears catalog. Robert remembers Max spending days reading the instructions, cutting the pieces to exactly the right length, and carefully gluing the many intricate pieces together. Once the plane was built, Max climbed to the top of the family’s grain silo and launched the model, hoping for a smooth flight. Unfortunately, the model plane crashed to the ground and broke into a million little pieces.
Max attended Hickory Grove Country School through 8th grade before attending Nevada High School, graduating in 1947. He then enrolled at Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts to study aeronautical engineering, which was a relatively new department at the time. (The Board of Regents approved the Department of Aeronautical Engineering in 1941).
After completing two years at Iowa State, Max enlisted in the United States Air Force. By enlisting, he was able to select a branch of service rather than being called into active duty through the draft. Max’s ambition was to become a pilot; however, the Air Force didn’t have any openings for pilots at the time. His second choice was photography, which became his first miliary assignment. Max attended and graduated from the School of Photography at Lowry Air Base in Denver, Colorado. He stood second in his class, and he went on to receive further training at O’Hare Air Base in Park Ridge, Illinois.
Max was called into Cadet Officer training in September 1951. He was sent to Greenville,
Mississippi to begin his flight education. While in Mississippi, he learned to fly the T6 trainer and the T28 trainer – planes he thoroughly enjoyed flying. He was then sent to the Air Force base in Laredo, Texas. There, he was the first student pilot in his class to solo with the T33 jet training plane. His immediate family was at his graduation when he received his silver pilot wings and was commissioned 2nd lieutenant with distinguished honors.
After his graduation, Max was sent to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas for air-to-air combat training for three months. Then, before he started flying missions in Korea, Max underwent a special two-week survival training program in Japan. He was the only soldier in his training group to successfully remain hidden throughout the training exercise.
In Korea, Max was stationed at Kimpo 13 in Suwon. While there, he successfully completed three separate missions in his F-Saber Fighter jet. In between missions, Max enjoyed playing cards with other service members, handing out candy to local children, and taking pictures to send to his family back home. Max’s Commanding Colonel described him as “a very hard worker and a perfectionist…He was quite handy with tools…and he took a great pride in improving his and his roommates’ quarters.”
On May 4, 1953, Max was attempting his fourth combat mission when his plane crashed during takeoff, and he was killed. His death came less than three months before an armistice ended the conflict.
Second Lieutenant Max Harvey Collins was 24 years old at the time of the crash and is remembered by his family as a kindhearted and caring soul. After his passing, Collins was awarded the Korean Service Medal with two bronze stars, the United Nations and National Defense Service Medals, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
After Max’s death, the war in Korea continued for three months, with the battle lines remaining relatively stable. The conflict had become a stalemate. Prior to the end of the Truman Administration in January 1953, plans to reunite North and South Korea were abandoned and limited goals were pursued to avoid the escalation of the conflict into a third world war involving China and the Soviet Union. Acting on a campaign pledge, incoming President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower went to Korea in December 1952. After visiting the troops, their commanders and South Korean leaders, and receiving briefings on the military situation in Korea, Eisenhower concluded, "we could not stand forever on a static front and continue to accept casualties without any visible results. Small attacks on small hills will not end this war."
President Eisenhower sought an end to hostilities in Korea through a combination of diplomacy and military muscle-flexing. On July 27, 1953, seven months after President Eisenhower's inauguration as the 34th President of the United States, an armistice was signed, ending organized combat operations and leaving the Korean Peninsula divided at the 38th parallel - much as it had been since the close of World War II.
The United Nation’s actions prevented North Korea from imposing its communist rule on South Korea. And the United States' actions in Korea demonstrated America's willingness to combat aggression and strengthened President Eisenhower's hand in Europe as he sought to organize European military defense under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – NATO.
The Republic of South Korea continues to be a strong democratic ally in world affairs, and its people—and all Americans—are forever grateful to Max Collins and all those who gave their lives defending its freedoms.