Wade Collins


 * Wade Collins is a former Crimson Guard.

Wade Collins also known as Fred II was a comrade of Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow and Stalker in Vietnam. He later became a member of the Cobra Crimson Guard as part of the "Fred" series before escaping with the help of his former comrades.

A Real American Hero comics continuity - Marvel Comics
During the Vietnam War Wade Collins was one of a six member Long Range Recon Patrol (L.R.R.P.), led by the future Stalker and also containing the future Snake-Eyes, the future Storm Shadow, Dickie Saperstein and Ramon Escobedo. Whilst operating in the jungle the patrol was ambushed by the Vietcong. Saperstein and Escobedo were killed and the others thought Collins had died as well so did not retrieve his body. However he survived and was captured by the Vietnamese, spending two years in a prisoner of war camp and cursing his former comrades for not finishing him off. When the war ended he came home to face huge public hostility to veterans, whilst his wife divorced him without even seeing him and few wanted to employ a veteran. He took to wandering the United States when he came to Springfield and joined Cobra. He found he had friends, influence, respect, power and a sense of belonging. When the Crimson Guard were formed he was amongst the first to join and had plastic surgery to become an identical "Fred".

When Fred Broca, the original Fred, was killed in a Cobra operation, Wade as Fred II was sent to Staten Island to take his place as head of the Broca family, living just outside Fort Wadsworth and spying on G.I. Joe operations. The Broca children found the sudden change impossible to understand. Later Fred II led an operation to capture Scarlett but was stopped by Snake-Eyes. Not recognizing his former comrade he pulled off the latter's mask but was horrified by what he saw beneath. Fred II subsequently followed Hawk, Stalker and Snake-Eyes to Washington DC and found he recognised Stalker but couldn't remember why. He followed Snake-Eyes and Stalker to the Vietnam War Memorial where they discovered that Wade Collins was not listed amongst the dead. He then confronted them to tell them that Collins was alive with "a new face, a new name and a new life." Forcing them to drive him to New York he told them how he had survived and joined Cobra. But his comrades reached out to him and made him realise how he had been used by Cobra. Reaching the Broca home he told the Broca family that he was going to leave for Cobra couldn't find him and start a new life. The others almost convinced him to ask the Brocas to come with him but he told them they deserved so much better than him. However they all chose to come with him and left to start a new life.

Many years later Wade's adopted son Sean was about to turn seventeen and wanted to enlist in the army. Wade was deeply reluctant to sign the papers giving parental permission but proved unable to talk Sean out of it so he asked the boy to write to Snake-Eyes. Snake-Eyes responded with a letter about the realities of soldiering. Wade told Sean that if he still wanted to join the papers would be signed but Sean wanted more time to think about it.