Edwin Wiggins of Carthage, Missouri, served in the Missouri National Guard as a Private in Company A, 2nd Missouri Infantry during the Mexican Border Conflict in 1916. In 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, he was inducted into service at Nevada, Missouri. Wiggins was sent overseas as a Sergeant in Company A, 128th Machine Gun Battalion. He was killed in action on September 29th, 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.Wiggins’ company was part of the Thirty-fifth Division, which trained at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma and left for Europe in the spring of 1918. The battalion saw its first action as a reserve force in the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient, which was created during the initial German invasion in August 1914.
After the conclusion of the St. Mihiel offensive, the division joined in the attack in the Meuse-Argonne region. The offensive lasted from September 26 to October 1, and by its end the division had suffered more than six thousand casualties. Five enlisted men were killed in the 128th Machine Gun Battalion, and two officers along with thirty two enlisted men and thirteen attached ammunition carriers were wounded. Wiggins was killed in action during the offensive and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery during the engagement. His official citation reads:
"For extraordinary heroism in action near Baulny, France, 29th September, 1918. Sergeant Wiggins led a machine gun platoon to a threatened portion of the line, under a heavy enemy barrage, walking back and forth along the front under heavy enemy fire, encouraging his men and directing the construction of emplacements. He also organized a group of Infantrymen, who had become separated from their organizations and put them in line, supervising their entrenchments. This gallant soldier was killed just as this work was completed."
Wiggins was buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at Romagne, France. In 1930, his mother, Mrs. T.L. Wiggins, visited her son’s grave as part of the Carthage, Missouri Gold Star Mothers. Mrs. Wiggins, along with 80 other mothers from Missouri, were given wreaths to adorn their loved one’s graves. The pilgrimage was made possible by an act of the U.S. Congress.
For more information about Edwin Wiggins and his scrapbook please contact the Jasper County Records Center in Carthage, Missouri.
