Wiggins, Edwin Collection
Sgt. Edwin Wiggins of Carthage, Mo. was a National Guard soldier in Company A, 2nd Missouri Infantry. In 1916, Wiggins and his comrades in the 2nd Missouri were deployed to the Mexican border after the bandit Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico. America entered World War I shortly after the 2nd Missouri returned home. Units from the Missouri National Guard were combined with their counterparts in Kansas to form the 35th Division. Sent to Camp Doniphan, Okla. for training. Wiggins’ unit became the 128th Machine Gun Battalion and sailed for Europe with the division in the spring of 1918.
Wiggins was killed in action on September 29, 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in the fighting. His scrapbook contains photographs from his service on the Mexican Border and his company’s departure for France in 1917.
