Tuesdays of Honor: Billy W. Higgins

LEXINGTON, Va. (WDBJ) - This week’s Tuesdays of Honor is for a Vietnam Veteran from Lexington, Virginia.

Billy W. Higgins served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967 during the Agent Orange chemical era, which did affect his health.

His life was changed on April 8^th 1967.

During a search and destroy operation in the An Lao Valley, his platoon received intense automatic weapons and sniper fire from an enemy ambush and was forced to withdraw.

Several were wounded but many were lying in exposed positions.

That’s when Sgt. Higgins, without regard for his own safety, crawled out to aid his fallen comrades.

He received the Bronze Star with Valor for a heroic action that day.

I spoke to his wife of 58 years Linda and she told me how they met: it was 1968 and they were sitting at drive-thru. Billy had a brand new Camaro and left the keys in the car with it was running, while he left with one of his friends. Linda said she and a friend got in the car and took it for a ride. They met, knew each other for one month, and have been married ever since.

She says, “I stole his car, the judge gave me a life sentence, and I’m still pulling time.”