Francis Riggins was born in .... 1915 as the first son of William and Katherine Riggins. He grew up in Petersburg, Virginia, in Dinwiddie County, together with his brother William, who was about 4 years younger than Francis.

Census records indicate that Francis and his brother William lived at the Virginia Conference Methodist Orphanage in Richmond, Virginia. There is no trace of the parents anymore ... At that time Francis was 14 and his brother William 10 years old. What is known that is that Francis had some half-sisters. The Orphanage had a trade school for the printing trade and that's exactly what Francis' enlistment record states as his civil occupation before joining the Army ... By the time Francis joined the Army his height was 1 meter and 73 centimers (68 inches) and his weight 88.5 kilograms (195 lbs).

Francis was drafted into the US Army and his enlistment took place in Richmond, VA on August 19, 1942. Francis was trained in Camp McCain, Mississippi and Fort Jackson, South Carolina ... During his training Francis Riggins was assigned to the Anti-Tank company of the 345th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division. While being in training a good friendship developed between him, Charles Smith and Maury Johnson, both members of the same Anti-Tank company ... To this day Charles and Maury can remember playing cards with Francis many evenings in Stone, England while preparing the anti-tank guns for combat operations in France, Germany, and Belgium. ...

The 87th Infantry Division, including Francis Riggins, Maury Johnson and Charles Smith shipped overseas on the Queen Elizabeth. They landed in Le Havre in November 1944. From there on the Division went to Metz (France) ... They first entered combat in France's Alsace-Lorraine, and after extremely bloody fighting, crossed the German border in the Saar, capturing the towns of Walsheim and Medelsheim.

Caught up in the Third Army's historic counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Division raced off into Belgium - attacking the German Panzer Lehr Division near Bastogne at the towns of Pironpre, Moircy, Bonnerue, and Tillet. Around February 1945 the Anti-Tank companies were divided into bazooka teams and minelaying teams.

Soon after breaching the Siegfried Line in the Eifel Mountains, the division crossed the Moselle River and captured Koblenz. Then the Rhine River crossing near Boppard and the dash across Germany ... In early April 1945, Francis' Division aproached the town of Tambach-Dietz and a small village in the neighborhood, Kleinschmalkalden. This well defended intersection was fortified by many road-blocks, machine-gun positions and defended by SS and fanatical Hitler-youth ...

The following eye-witness account is from one of Francis' friends, Charles Smith who was wounded that day at Kleinschmalkalden ...

"... The 3rd of April 1945, the 3rd battalion of the 345th Regiment was capturing a number prisoners in the days prior to April 7, 1945. 224 prisoners were captured during the first 3 days of April. A number of ambushes by the Germans occurred at this time, especially back in the rear echelons of the regiment ..."

"... Easter Sunday dawned bright and clear. On April 3, regimental companys moved out again and headed north - a new adventure was in store for the 345th. On April 5th the 345th regiment moved another 40 kilometers to relieve elements of the 90th division ..."

"... On April 7, the 3rd battalion moved out with L Company leading, followed by I and K companies. The progress was rapid until the two battalions converged on Tambach - the hub of all roads in the area. Open fields surrounded the City of Tambach offering excellent fields of fire for the enemy. It was here we met the Hitler Youth in great force for the 1st time in the woods. The 3rd battalion encountered a number of road blocks at this time. There were some seventy Nazis dug in on the high ground. Co L lost 20 men wounded and 15 killed here. We were outnumbered by squads at least 2 to 1 and they all had fully automatic weapons. We did not have any supporting fire or cover from M Co (Weapons Company) or Cannon Co. that I know of ..."

Amongst those who were killed that day was Francis. He is believed to be one of the first men who was killed just outside of Tambach ... Others who suffered the same fate, where ...

         PFC Gerald Platt - Petersburg, VA
         2nd Lt. Ralph E Hall (Co L Commander) Muscogee, FL
         PFC Charles Adams - Enigma, GA.
         PFC James B Hicks - Troy, NC.
         PFC William S Goodwyn II - TN.
         PFC George W Harris - IL.
         PFC Melvin Kimsey - GA.
         PFC Herman E Raleigh Jr - KS.
         SGT Arthur J Suhren Jr - NY.
         PFC Baker.
         SGT Griffin.

Francis was first buried in Butzbach, Germany- Plot A, Row 12, Grave 296 on April 11, 1945. Buried to his left was Sergeant Griffin, to his right PFC Baker ... He was relocated shortly after the war and found his final resting place in the American Military Cemetery of the Netherlands, at Margraten.

In September 2005, one of his buddies, Maury Johnson returned to Europe with his wife. They visited Francis' final resting place at the American Military cemetery of the Netherland, in Margraten. The were accompanied by the webmaster of the In Honored Glory website, who adopted Francis grave, a few months before Maury's visit ...

These days Francis Riggins rests in the beautiful American Military Cemetery at Margraten in the Netherlands ... He's still visited regularly by the webmaster of this site, who adopted Francis' final resting place. He is remembered and honored by his friends Maury Johnson, Charles Smith and Floyd Boothe, by every visitor of the cemetery of Margraten and by every visitor of the In Honored Glory website

Special thanks to Maury Johnson, to Charles Smith and to Dorothy Colwell.