During this month of November, I want my posts to honor some of the many veterans from our county who have served our nation. This post is dedicated to a father and son.
As a young girl growing up in Algona, I very vividly remember hearing of the death of Bill Higgins while he was serving in the Vietnam conflict. Bill had graduated from Garrigan High School in 1961, just a year after my oldest brother, and was only 26 at the time of his death. He was the fifth Vietnam casualty from Kossuth County. He was survived by his mother, Dorothy (McEnroe) Higgins, for whom his death came not only as a crushing blow, but also a cruel reminder of the earlier loss of her husband, Captain William Bigley Higgins, during World War II. This is their story.
As a young girl growing up in Algona, I very vividly remember hearing of the death of Bill Higgins while he was serving in the Vietnam conflict. Bill had graduated from Garrigan High School in 1961, just a year after my oldest brother, and was only 26 at the time of his death. He was the fifth Vietnam casualty from Kossuth County. He was survived by his mother, Dorothy (McEnroe) Higgins, for whom his death came not only as a crushing blow, but also a cruel reminder of the earlier loss of her husband, Captain William Bigley Higgins, during World War II. This is their story.
Captain William B. Higgins
Captain Higgins was born in Whittemore,
Iowa, September 30, 1914, the son of William and Elizabeth (Bigley)
Higgins. He graduated from the
Presentation Academy and then attended Creighton University at Omaha studying
journalism. After a short stint as a
linotype operator, he purchased the Whittemore Champion which he published
until he was inducted into the service in March of 1942 with a rating of second
lieutenant in the reserve officers’ corps.
He spent time in Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Adair, Oregon, (where he
was promoted to first lieutenant); and Camp Shelby, Mississippi. In July of 1944, he was home on furlough and
spent time with his wife and little son, William Patrick, who had been born May
28, 1943, while the family was in Mississippi.
Dorothy and her son had moved back home to be near relatives while
William was overseas. Following the
furlough he was ordered to report to Camp Meade, Maryland, and went immediately
overseas to take part in the Normandy campaign.
He was promoted to Captain just prior to leaving the states.
A member of the 69th Infantry
Division of the Army, Captain Higgins was in Germany at the time of his
death. A letter from the front gave
details of his death:
“We were near Schlieden, Germany, at the time
of his death, and we had our Company C. P. set up in a house. We had not been receiving much enemy fire up
to the 11th of February.
On this morning, about 10:55, two shells went over the house, landing to our rear. The captain was changing his socks at the time, and the 1st sergeant was sitting at his desk in the same room. The phone rang, and it was the colonel seeking information regarding the shells. The 1st sergeant got up, went into a rear room, and looked out the window to see where the shells were bursting.
On this morning, about 10:55, two shells went over the house, landing to our rear. The captain was changing his socks at the time, and the 1st sergeant was sitting at his desk in the same room. The phone rang, and it was the colonel seeking information regarding the shells. The 1st sergeant got up, went into a rear room, and looked out the window to see where the shells were bursting.
While the 1st sergeant
was standing there, a fatal shell came in, hitting the side of the house and
bursting right into the C. P. room, throwing steel and dirt all over the room.
Capt. Higgins died instantly, and
the 1st sergeant received many slight wounds when steel flew through
the open door towards him.”
The body of Captain Higgins was originally
interred in the Henri-Chapelle military cemetery in Belgium. Several years after the war ended, his body
was brought home and buried in St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Whittemore.
A few months after the Captain’s death,
his widow was notified that he had been posthumously awarded the silver star
for gallantry in action in a battle which occurred just a few days before his
death. The citation read as follows:
“On 2 February, 1945, Captain Higgins,
commanding Company “H,” with complete disregard for constant fire from two enemy
tanks covering the approaches to ***, located positions in advance of his own
lines and moved the guns into position before final assault on the town began.
During ensuing attack, his example
of cool and aggressive action under fire was an inspiration to all ***
troops. As a result of the close support
provided by Company H’s machine-gun fire, the attack was successfully secured.
The gallantry, leadership, and
disregard for personal safety displayed by this officer reflect highest honor
upon himself and the United States army.”
Lieutenant William P. Higgins
His son, Bill, grew up in the Algona, was
an outstanding football player for the Garrigan Golden Bears, and a good
scholar. He attended Creighton
University in Omaha for two years and then graduated from the University of
Iowa, College of Law on June 9, 1967.
Prior to graduation, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and
received his commission as second lieutenant.
He passed the bar exam before leaving for duty. Lt. Higgins took his flight training at
Pensacola, Florida, completing his first solo flight in a helicopter on May 16,
1969.
The lieutenant was then stationed at the
Marine base in Santa Ana, California, until October 12, 1969, when he was sent
to Vietnam. The fatal crash which took
his life occurred on December 28th of that year. A letter from Lt. Col. C. R. Dunbaugh
recounted what happened.
“I had the pleasure on several occasions to
have him assigned as my co-pilot. A more
competent, sincere officer couldn’t be asked for. Earlier the same day of the accident he had
flown with me for a short flight.
“The mishap occurred at night. The flight was from Hue Phu Bai to the north
of Danang to Marble Mountain. They were
under positive radar contact and were flying at 3000 feet of altitude. Radar observed the aircraft turn to the right
of course and fly toward a 3900 foot high mountain. Frantic calls were made on all available
radios from the radar controllers, but no response was observed in the
direction the aircraft was flying. The
wreckage was found at the 3000 foot elevation on the side of the mountain. Search aircraft were immediately dispatched
but due to the mountainous terrain and the cloudiness the wreckage was not
found until the next day. The accident
board arrived at the conclusion that the aircraft flew into the mountain. Enemy fire was not a factor. . . Lt. Butler
was the aircraft commander and Bill his co-pilot on this flight.”
The body of Lt. William P. Higgins arrived
home on Saturday, January 10, 1970. His
funeral was held the following Tuesday and he was laid to rest beside his
father, Captain William B. Higgins, at St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in
Whittemore.
Epilogue
Young Bill would not have had to enter the
military. Because his father had died in
the service of the nation, he was exempt from the draft. However, the call of patriotism was too
strong for him to ignore. His mother
later said, “He felt it was his duty. He wanted to fly. He wanted to do some things before he sat
down at a desk. I don’t think anybody
could have talked him out of it.”
Dorothy Higgins passed away in 2002. She never remarried and Bill was her only
child.
Until next time,
KC History Buff
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Thanks for sharing your blog. I discovered it while looking for information about my mother’s hometown, Whittemore. When I saw this post about the Higgins men, I was almost brought to tears. My mother was Rosella Higgins (Rosy), and William B. Higgins was her brother. William P. Higgins was my favorite cousin.
ReplyDeleteYoung Bill - we called him Billy Pat when he was a child – was very close to my older brother Bob. They were both red heads, as was Bill’s dad and grandfather. I have some jealous memories of their playing ‘Army’ or ‘War’ and sleeping out in Bill’s backyard. As the little sister, I was not welcomed in those activities. They were, however, tolerant and polite, and included me in other activities, especially as we got older. Bill and my brother attended Creighton together and Bill was in my brother’s wedding.
I remember getting the call from my mother, telling me about Bill’s death in Viet Nam. She was very saddened not only for her personal loss and the pain experienced by Bill’s mother, but Bill’s death was the end of Mom’s family of origin. William B. Higgins was her only sibling and young Bill was his only child.
Thanks for sharing their story.
Jean Sylvester Morken