Capt. Collins is the first Army nurse to be returned to America from Korea under the new rotation system. She sailed Wednesday from Yokohama, Japan, on a ship carrying 200 Air Force personnel.

The milk and gum will be waiting for her at the home of her sister, Mrs. S. E. Fennell, 5825 Central Avenue Pike, where Capt. Collins will spend her 30-day leave.

"She has written us very little about the war. But she did write one letter saying 'you never know how much you miss little things until you're on a battle line.' " Mrs. Fennell said.

"Send Her a Cow"

"Edna said the two things she missed most were chewing gum and buttermilk. Well, we mailed her the chewing gum, but we couldn't quite figure out how to mail the milk. My daughter, Mrs. T. E. Weber, said laughingly, 'If Edna's going to be over there long enough, we might mail her a cow!' "

"The only time Edna wrote us about the war, she said it was like a football game. One time one side would be winning and then it would reverse again.

"She seemed very happy in her work, but then she had always wanted so badly to be a nurse," Mrs. Fennell explained.

"We both grew up near Rutledge, and she finished the grammar school there. Then it was necessary for her to go to work. She got a job at Standard Knitting Mills and worked there for several years. But she still kept her eye on her goal of a nursing career.

Trained in Memphis

"She saved her money and then went back to high school at Richland, near Blaine. After graduating she took her nurse's training at the Baptist Memorial Hospital at Memphis.

"When she received her cap, she worked with a doctor at Princeton, Ky., until she joined the Army in 1943. She served in Virginia, California and Texas until July 1947. Then she was sent to the Philippines, and later to Japan and Korea.

"I know she will be glad to be home, and we certainly will be thrilled to see her after all this time.