Photo By Allison Hoy | Major General Michelle Schmidt, 7th Infantry Division commanding general, stands with...... read more read more
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Army Corporal Frederick Arthur Higgins, a 7th Infantry Division Silver Star awardee who risked his life to aid and transport wounded Soldiers during the Korean War while he was wounded, too, was honored with the July 30 Joint Base Lewis-McChord building dedication of Higgins Hall Soldier Service Center.
A Bremerton native, Higgins was a member of Medical Detachment, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 7th ID. He became a prisoner of war on Dec. 2, 1950, near North Korea’s Chosin Reservoir, and was held at POW Camp 1 in Changsong, where he died at age 20 in July 1951.
Higgins’ remains were unidentified until Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency scientists were later able to identify them from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Higgins was accounted for on June 22, 2023, according to a DPAA press release. He was buried in September 2024 at Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent.
His family, including his sister, Sandra “Sandy” Naquin, received the Silver Star – the nation’s third-highest military combat decoration – and 7th ID’s Order of the Bayonet on his behalf. The Order of the Bayonet is “a symbolic honor recognizing the Soldier’s courage and eternal connection to the division,” according to a 7th ID article from December 2024.
Naquin also attended the Higgins Hall dedication ceremony.
“Seeing you here reminds us all that the legacy of service and sacrifice is not just carried by the Soldier, but by their family as well,” said Maj. Gen. Michelle Schmidt, 7th ID commanding general. “And it’s a privilege to honor your brother’s memory with this dedication.”
Schmidt said the event was about more than recounting Higgins’ heroism.
“It’s about ensuring that his story lives on,” she said. “Higgins Hall is more than a building now. It’s a living memorial to Cpl. Higgins and to all those who have served in the medical support and ministry roles, often in the most challenging and dangerous conditions. It’s a reminder that every Soldier, regardless of rank, regardless of MOS (military occupational specialty), is critical to our success.”
Formerly part of the Network Enterprise Center, the newly named Higgins Hall Soldier Service Center serves as a 7th Infantry Division resources building, including its medical team, retention office and chaplain.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2025 11:29 |
| Story ID: | 544519 |
| Location: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Hometown: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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