Richard L. (Rick) Collins comes to us with a diverse set of skills and experiences. His most important qualification is that he is a Christian who deeply believes in the power of prayer, positive thinking and makes best efforts to live his life based on the “Golden Rule”. You would have a hard time changing his convictions since he is a 2-time Cancer survivor.

In 1997 he had prostate cancer but was blessed with a full recovery. In 2003, he was diagnosed with a malignant, inoperable brain tumor. However, following radiation and chemo treatments he was in remission for the next 3 years. Then, in May of 2006 he was told his brain cancer had returned and at best he might have 6-9 months to live. By mid-June his doctors performed a brain biopsy, at which time he was told his cancer had disappeared.  Coincidence? He credits “Faith, Family, Friends” and of course “lots of prayer” for his good fortune.

Rick is also a Patriot who adamantly believes that citizenship in the United States of America is not a right but a privilege that has been paid for with the lives of countless brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice.  His father fought in WWII; there was never a question of whether Rick would serve his country, only one of whether he would enlist following college or high school. Rick chose the latter path, and went on to become a decorated Vietnam Veteran who spent two consecutive duty tours in Southeast Asia between September 1970 and June 1972.

As a member of the U.S. Naval Security Group, Rick served as a NSA Counter-Intelligence specialist.  In May of 1972 he was selected to provide intelligence intercept support for Seal Team 2 as part of their participation in Operation Pocket Money, or as it was better publicly known, the mining of North Vietnam’s Haiphong Harbor which began on 09 May 72. 

Rick graduated with a BBA in marketing and finance from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Texas. For the next 27 years he held a variety of national and international sales, marketing and consulting positions. His first job was as a software system engineer with EDS in Dallas. His last was as a Worldwide Business Development Manager with Microsoft, where he was responsible for generating over $50M in partner revenues.  In between those 2 jobs, he worked for several high-tech start-ups, plus founded and ran three of his own companies. 

Rick’s other passion in life was…and still is music. He was an accomplished guitarist whose work was featured on a number of nationally released CD’s. He also recorded 3 of his own, as well as played at some famous blues venues like Antones in Austin, TX, Players in Chicago and the House of Blues in New Orleans.

Brain cancer, surgery, 30 intense radiation treatments and of course the tumor put an end to his musical career by damaging the nerves that control the fingers on his left, or “playing” hand.  Although he no longer plays, he still teaches and lectures on the history of American Blues and Jazz music. However, through the efforts of his sister and daughter you can still hear him play. In 2004 they surprised him by putting together a 3-CD retrospective of his recordings.  Titled Meadowbrook Drive, it contains 45 tracks of live and studio recordings, plus a moving tribute to his father Jack Collins. He won’t sell his CD’s but you can “buy” one with a small donation to either the National Multiple Sclerosis Society or the American Cancer Society.

Above is Rick before radiation treatments

email Rick at Rick@Give2thetroops.org