Staff Sgt. Michael J. Wiggins of Cleveland, Ohio, was a 1998 graduate of Shaw High School where he was a standout on the cross-country team and a member of the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps. He had a contagious smile and was a good level headed kid. Michael excelled in school and received scholarship offers for college. Instead, he chose the Army, enlisting in 1998. He served in Kuwait in 2004, spent two years in the Reserves and rejoined the Army to serve in Iraq. He arrived there Oct. 29. He was to come home June 28. In the Army, he had a nickname. Fellow soldiers called him "T.M", for Technical Manual. He had them memorized. Michael enjoyed playing a competitive game of Monopoly. Some games lasted until 1 a.m., with Michael shunning low-ranking Baltic and Mediterranean avenues. In his home church he was a junior deacon and choir member. He also loved driving his treasured gray Mustang. Two days before he died in Iraq, he sent an e-mail to his sister, Nicole: "Dear Nie, some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to." He is survived by his loving parents, Rev. Dr. Anthony and Valerie J. Wiggins and sister, Nichole Wiggins. He was buried with full Military Honors. He was 26.
Army
79th Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Battalion
Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Army
79th Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Battalion
Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Staff Sgt. Michael J. Wiggins of Cleveland, Ohio, was a 1998 graduate of Shaw High School where he was a standout on the cross-country team and a member of the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps. He had a contagious smile and was a good level headed kid. Michael excelled in school and received scholarship offers for college. Instead, he chose the Army, enlisting in 1998. He served in Kuwait in 2004, spent two years in the Reserves and rejoined the Army to serve in Iraq. He arrived there Oct. 29. He was to come home June 28. In the Army, he had a nickname. Fellow soldiers called him "T.M", for Technical Manual. He had them memorized. Michael enjoyed playing a competitive game of Monopoly. Some games lasted until 1 a.m., with Michael shunning low-ranking Baltic and Mediterranean avenues. In his home church he was a junior deacon and choir member. He also loved driving his treasured gray Mustang. Two days before he died in Iraq, he sent an e-mail to his sister, Nicole: "Dear Nie, some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to." He is survived by his loving parents, Rev. Dr. Anthony and Valerie J. Wiggins and sister, Nichole Wiggins. He was buried with full Military Honors. He was 26.
Army
79th Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Battalion
Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Army
79th Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Battalion
Fort Sam Houston, Texas
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