Darden Washington Mccollum was born on May 14, 1919 in Comanche, Comanche County, Texas. He was the son of John Wyley McCollum and Anna Darden McCollum. He was married to Marye D. Lowe Shirley.
Darden served in the 377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group as a Captain during World War II. On March 14, the 379th Fighter Squadron flew five eight-plane missions beyond Coblenz into the area along the Rhine, wreaking havoc with rail traffic. One flight dumped its bombs into the yards at Limburg, leaving 50 rail cars in flames; the squadron’s strafing claimed 13 trucks, a motorcycle, two cars and a van, although Lt. Charles McCormick had to fly home blind after a flak fragment cut an oil line in his engine and sprayed his windscreen with pitch-black lubricant. Another attack destroyed an underground ammunition storage bunker; witnesses saw more than 20 German soldiers running from the site only to be caught in the blast and killed. The other two squadrons flew 20 four-plane missions in support of XII Corps, attacking German forces trying to retreat across the Rhine before the Rhine-Moselle-Saar triangle was cut off.
On the first mission of the day, the 377th Fighter Sqaudron’s Red Flight received a call from the ground controller to attack targets in the town of Bell, Germany. Flight leader Capt. Darden McCollum and his wingman, Lt. Stanley Krzywicki, went down to about 1000 feet while the rest of the flight orbited at 6000 feet. “We stayed below 1000 feet for about five minutes, just observing and not expending ammunition,” Krzywicki said. “(McCollum) then called and said he had a vehicle in sight and was going in when he received a direct hit on his engine and gas tank. It was 20mm flak, which was heavy and accurate. He started to flame immediately and he called and said he was hit. The ship stayed in about a 20-degree dive and a slight left turn for about 200 yards and then made a 30-degree right turn in the direction of a town at the same angled dive. The aircraft hit approximately 100 feet before the town, bounced and went through the buildings, blowing up.
CPT Darden is now buried in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.
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