Honoring Veterans: Marine Corps Veteran Robert Wiggins

Marine Corps Veteran Robert Wiggins grew up in Texas and graduated from Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School in 2007.

After graduation, Wiggins completed basic training in San Diego, California. In his 10 years with the Marine Corps, he served all over the world, including deployments in Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Wiggins was a squad leader in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, an infantry division created in 1914 that has served in every major conflict that the United States has been involved in since. He was also part of the 31st Military Expeditionary Unit (a rapid reactionary force) deployed in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013. Since then, he also served in Japan, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. 

In May 2014, his regiment deployed to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. As a squad leader for his platoon, Wiggins joined the Australian Defence Force for a combined training exercise to improve interoperability between forces. 

In the latter years of his service, Wiggins worked as a recruiter for the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Seattle, Washington. He then obtained an Associate of Science in Psychology from Portland Community College while working at the Veterans Resource Center as a community outreach coordinator. In this position, he supported the development of strong connections between Veterans and the local community.

We honor his service.

Nominate a Veteran for Honoring Veterans

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s Honoring Veterans social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

Writer: Andrew Joseph

Editor: Tayler Rairigh

Researchers: Raphael Romea

Graphic Designer: Kiki Kelley