Darryl Collins Memorial Page

Darryl always had a nice smile on his face. At our reunion he
didn't wait for the get-together in the special room set aside for that, he pounded on my door
and when I opened the door he smiled and said "what took you so long to come to the door",
I said I was asleep, and he said "Hi, I'm Darryl Collins". I did not recognize him because the
last time we saw each other we were both as skinny as rails. The fellow at the door looked
like Santa without the red suit, with the largest smile you ever saw. And throughout the
reunion always smiled. Truly a swell guy.
From: Jim Rice (Center in photo)
Dadeville, AL

Darryl was a great guy and a good Marine. He will be missed by all that knew him. Taps....
From: Pete Boesen
Palm Desert, CA

While I didn't really get to know Darryl in our Platoon at Boot Camp, I did get to know him better at our 50th Reunion and later when he joined us in the 349 Chat Room on Skype. I learned to appreciate his great sense of humor and enjoy his fun stories.
From: Paul Prosise
Kailua Kona, HI

I didn’t see Darryl after boot camp and now that 50 years have passed, I didn’t recognize his reunion photos. So I looked up his boot camp photo and found the face I remembered. I only spoke to Darryl on a few typewritten chats but was impressed with his energy, sense of humor and love of family. Even out here at the far reach of his universe, he’ll be missed. Sincere condolences to his family and others who loved him.
From: Tom Poole
Prosper, Texas

Wyatt Earp/Hugh O'Brian, Darryl, Donna, Arbie Gillespie, and Diann Gillespie

From Darryl Collins - "Arbie & Diann went up to Point Loma with us on Tuesday. The girls were off looking at a monument and Arbie and I were standing around when this guy with a retired Marine cap on said Semper Fi and asked if we would take a pic of he and his wife sitting on the wall with a carrier passing in the background so Arbie did. That started a conversation, he went into the Marines in '43. We visited for quite awhile and he asked if we remembered the Wyatt Earp show from TV, we said yes and he said that was me, Hugh O'Brian After a while he asked some girls passing by to take pictures of all of us. He has a national High School leadership program. Check his web site hoby.org...Hugh is now 83 and looks and sounds like he could rip a guys head off with no problem..."