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Monday
March 15, 2010 Since 1922 |
Beach City OKs memorial to honor Pfc. Riggs
By Heather L. Nicholson
Baytown Sun Published June 29, 2005 Beach City officials unanimously approved to install a flagpole and plaque at the community center in honor of Pfc. Wesley Riggs, who died serving in Iraq in May.
City Council made the decision Tuesday at their regular council meeting. Mayor Guido Persiani said he felt like they needed the memorial to show more appreciation for the 19-year-old’s sacrifice.
“He was a resident of this city and certainly someone we should honor for his commitment to the war in Iraq. We felt like we needed to do more for him,” Persiani said.
The city budgeted $1,000 to repair a 25-foot flagpole already at the community center that is rusted and corroded. Once it is cleaned and re-installed, Beach City plans to place a plaque in Riggs’ honor at the base of the pole.
Persiani said he mentioned the idea to Riggs’ father, Daniel, a resident of Beach City, and he is pleased with the memorial. Daniel Riggs declined to comment Tuesday.
Riggs was a 2003 graduate of Barbers Hill High School and lived with his father and step-mother in Beach City.
Despite some objections from his family, Riggs joined the U.S. Army in February 2004. He was a member of the 2nd Platoon, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army based out of Ft. Stewart, GA.
His platoon was stationed near Tikrit, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded near his patrol. Riggs was the only casualty.
At his funeral service in Baytown, he received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal and an Army Service Ribbon.
He was buried May 25 with full military honors at the VA Houston National Cemetery.
Riggs’ commander Capt. Dene Leonard remembered Riggs as the kind of solider every commander wishes for but only gets one of in their career. “There was never a moment that Wesley shied away from his responsibility regardless of what it was. Wesley met every challenge head-on and never faltered. The loss of PFC Wesley Riggs has touched the hearts of the entire company,” Leonard wrote.
Riggs ws the 1,622nd American soldier to die during “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Baytown Sun Published June 29, 2005 Beach City officials unanimously approved to install a flagpole and plaque at the community center in honor of Pfc. Wesley Riggs, who died serving in Iraq in May.
City Council made the decision Tuesday at their regular council meeting. Mayor Guido Persiani said he felt like they needed the memorial to show more appreciation for the 19-year-old’s sacrifice.
“He was a resident of this city and certainly someone we should honor for his commitment to the war in Iraq. We felt like we needed to do more for him,” Persiani said.
The city budgeted $1,000 to repair a 25-foot flagpole already at the community center that is rusted and corroded. Once it is cleaned and re-installed, Beach City plans to place a plaque in Riggs’ honor at the base of the pole.
Persiani said he mentioned the idea to Riggs’ father, Daniel, a resident of Beach City, and he is pleased with the memorial. Daniel Riggs declined to comment Tuesday.
Riggs was a 2003 graduate of Barbers Hill High School and lived with his father and step-mother in Beach City.
Despite some objections from his family, Riggs joined the U.S. Army in February 2004. He was a member of the 2nd Platoon, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army based out of Ft. Stewart, GA.
His platoon was stationed near Tikrit, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded near his patrol. Riggs was the only casualty.
At his funeral service in Baytown, he received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal and an Army Service Ribbon.
He was buried May 25 with full military honors at the VA Houston National Cemetery.
Riggs’ commander Capt. Dene Leonard remembered Riggs as the kind of solider every commander wishes for but only gets one of in their career. “There was never a moment that Wesley shied away from his responsibility regardless of what it was. Wesley met every challenge head-on and never faltered. The loss of PFC Wesley Riggs has touched the hearts of the entire company,” Leonard wrote.
Riggs ws the 1,622nd American soldier to die during “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”