Orval Collard (1924 - 1944)

Born 11 May 1924 in Indiana, United States

Ancestors

Died 13 Mar 1944 at age 19 in Camp Robinson, Pulaski, Arkansas, United States

Biography

Orval was born 11 May 1924 in Indiana, United States.

He was the son of Raymond Frank & Marie Deline (Curwick) Collard. Orval had eleven brothers and sisters including Chester Collard (listed).

He served in the United States Army during World War II.

PVT Orval L Collard died in Camp Robinson Little Rock Arkansas. He was 1 of 10 men killed by the explosion of a supposedly harmless land mine they were practicing to defuse.

12 SOLDIERS KILLED IN MINE EXPLOSION

Camp Robinson, Ark., March 14 -- (AP) -- An accidental explosion during a surface mine demonstration took the lives of 12 Army enlisted men here yesterday, public relations announced, and sent 14 others to the base hospital.

Ten soldiers died instantly, two others several hours later. Four of the injured were said to be in a critical condition. The soldiers, members of the 652nd tank destroyer battalion, were engaged in practice installation and removal of anti-personnel, anti-tank and booby-trap mines, the public relations office said.

Cause of the explosion was not determined. The blast occurred at 3:30 p.m., two hours after the soldiers had commenced the demonstration. The dead included:

Sgt. CHARLES GOBER, Steubenville, Ohio.

Cpl. STANLEY F. GORNEY, Akron, Ohio.

T/5 CLIFFORD REYNOLDS, East Liverpool, Ohio.

Pvt. GEORGE ZAPACH, JR., Cleveland, Ohio.

Pfc. EARL R. MILDNER, Steubenville, Ohio.

Pfc. ROBERT A. APPELMAN, Crocker, Ind.

Sgt. JACK K. WAREHAM, Denver, Ind.

Corp. PEARL W. ALLEN, JR., Winslow, Ind.

Corp. LAWRENCE E. BACHMAN, Monon, Ind.

Pvt. ORGAL L. COLLARD, Newland, Ind.

T/5 RUSSELL E. VOLK, Gary, Ind.

DAVID SCHEMBER, Akron, Ohio.

Partial list of injured:

Sgt. ARNOLD R. McDOWELL, East Liverpool, Ohio.

Cpl. VICTOR V. MOROVIC, Steubenville, Ohio.

T/5 WILLIAM E. PTAK, Cleveland, Ohio.

Pvt. JOHN C. MARTIN, Martins Ferry, Ohio.

Pvt. RAYMOND H. FAULUS, Cleveland, Ohio.

Details concerning their injuries were not announced.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Source: Article in the Marion Star, Ohio 1944-03-14.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSBQ-22M : accessed 16 July 2018), Orval L Collard in household of Raymond F Collard, Pembroke, Kankakee, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 40, sheet 3A, line 32, family 49, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 526; FHL microfilm 2,340,261.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWH5-65X : accessed 16 July 2018), Orval Collard in household of Raymond Collard, Pembroke Township, Kankakee, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 46-53, sheet 6B, line 57, family 115, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 824
• "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8YD-Q99 : 5 December 2014), Orval L Collard, enlisted 13 Mar 1943, Ft Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
• "Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VJRG-B9K : 27 November 2014), Orval L Collard, 13 Mar 1944; derived from "Arkansas, Death Index, 1914-1950," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); a multigenerational derivative citing Division of Vital Records, Arkansas Department of Health, Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950 (Arkansas: Arkansas Genealogical Society).
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9276527