Army Specialist Caleb Collins Died Trying To Save Friends

Selfless Soldier St. Aug Alum Remembered As A Hero
Eyewitness News WWLTV
Thanh Truong
August 2, 2015


NEW ORLEANS -- The funeral for a local soldier who died while trying to save a fellow service member from drowning in Hawaii is now set for next week.

Caleb Collins was assigned to the Army's 25th Infantry Division, but before that, he was a member of the St. Augustine Purple Knights, a high school his father says helped mold his son into a soldier ready to sacrifice.

With children, you hope they'll grow up to do great things.

"It's very common for them to say, 'When I grow up, I want to be like my dad.' Well, isn't a blessing that I get to say I want to be like my son," Ernest Collins.

It's been less than a week since Ernest Collins lost his only son. On July 25, Army specialist Caleb Collins was with friends taking pictures near the eastern shoreline on the island of Oahu. That's when a massive wave rolled in, knocking one of his friends into the water. Caleb immediately dove in.

"He had actually reached his friend, and the two of them were actually making their way back to safety, when a second huge wave came in and swallowed them up," said Ernest Collins.


Their bodies were found the next day.
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