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ENSIGN GEORGE M. RIGGIN
was the son of Nutter and Phoebe Riggin, who lived at 1349 South 54th
Street in Philadelphia PA in January of 1920. Nutter Riggin was then
working as a refrigeration foreman. George Riggin was born in 1920. The
family later moved to 304 Wyoming Avenue in Audubon NJ. George Riggin
graduated from Audubon High School in 1937.
George Riggin was an all-around
athlete, playing football, soccer, and basketball while at Audubon High,
and also played in the school orchestra. George Riggin won a scholarship
to the University of Maryland to study natural sciences. He graduated in
1942, and enlisted in the Navy in April of 1942.
George Riggin received his
initial training at Anacostia Air Field, near Washington DC. He won his
wings and was commissioned as an Ensign at Pensacola FL on January 4,
1943. Trained as a fighter pilot, he had gone overseas that year, and
was flying the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat carrier-based fighter. Ensign
Riggin was a member of Torpedo Squadron 39 VT-30, which operated off of
the aircraft carrier USS Monterey CVL-26. One of his shipmates was
Lieutenant Gerald R. Ford, who went on to become President of the United
States.
Ensign Riggin had shot
down at least one Japanese aircraft before he was lost while taking part
in a bombing mission against Kavieng, on the island of New Ireland,
which lies north of New Guinea. Navy records record his plane as
going missing on January 1, 1944. Ensign Riggin was
reported as missing in action in the January 11, 1944 edition of the
Camden Courier-Post.
Ensign George M. Riggin's body was never recovered. He was declared dead
on January 14, 1946. He was survived by his parents, and sisters Ruth
Riggin and Mrs. Margaret Walker. Five
members of Audubon High School's 1937 graduating class were also lost
while serving in America's military during World War II. Besides George
Riggin, the dead include Charles
Adamson, Peter Albano, Edwin
Klenk, and Charles Stevenson. |
