Jerry Collins

Keeping on Jerry Collins

At 22, a returning WWII vet, Jerry Collins faced a lengthy recovery, both physical and mental. Battle-hardened and hungry for action, he was better prepared for life on the street or in the mob than he was for a slot in the organizational chart of a large corporation. Yet, he found the strength to wash the war paint from his body, cleanse his soul of its violent impulses, rediscover his humanity, and commit himself to serving his wife, family, company, and community. Always moving forward, Jerry shares highlights from his nearly ten decades on this earth, tracing a challenging, sometimes touching, and always compelling odyssey, a journey that takes us from the Great Depression in the early 20th century to the Covid-19 pandemic in the early 21st, along the way offering insights drawn from his work shaping one of the largest corporations in the modern world, Chevron. Now, at 96, Jerry has written a memoir to evoke his life and times in the hope of encouraging others to follow in the legacy of what has been called the Greatest Generation, the generation of brave men and women who fought hard times, a brutal war and ushered in an era of incredible growth, innovation, and prosperity.