Army PFC Mason was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Mason was killed when he encountered indirect fire (a rocket-propelled grenade) while manning a checkpoint in his vehicle in Taji. Collin was the son of Dominican parents. From the age of 10, he wanted to be G.I. Joe and played with the plastic soldiers in the hall outside his home. He attended Curtis High School on Staten Island where he met his wife to be, Cynthia. He later completed a GED and joined the Army in August 2004, as an infantryman. In November 2005, Collin and Cynthia married and he shipped out to Iraq in December. He was not always enthusiastic about being in Iraq because he hated the sand, but he sounded upbeat in his messages home saying, "We are winning". His favorite movies were "Black Hawk Down" and "Basic". Collin spoke to his wife the day before he was killed telling her he was going on a mission, that he loved her, and that he would call her the next day. The call never came.
Army PFC Mason was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Mason was killed when he encountered indirect fire (a rocket-propelled grenade) while manning a checkpoint in his vehicle in Taji. Collin was the son of Dominican parents. From the age of 10, he wanted to be G.I. Joe and played with the plastic soldiers in the hall outside his home. He attended Curtis High School on Staten Island where he met his wife to be, Cynthia. He later completed a GED and joined the Army in August 2004, as an infantryman. In November 2005, Collin and Cynthia married and he shipped out to Iraq in December. He was not always enthusiastic about being in Iraq because he hated the sand, but he sounded upbeat in his messages home saying, "We are winning". His favorite movies were "Black Hawk Down" and "Basic". Collin spoke to his wife the day before he was killed telling her he was going on a mission, that he loved her, and that he would call her the next day. The call never came.
