Frank Winfield Briggs

Private Frank W. Briggs graduated from West High School in Madison, Wis., and began studying agricultural studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison prior to WWII. Private Briggs enlisted Dec. 15, 1942, and was stationed in Hawaii and New Guinea during his service. After being wounded in action in 1944, this hero urged Army medics to help other injured service members first. He died of his wounds on Jan. 1, 1945, while on Morotai Island, south of the Philippines. Private Briggs was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously on March 27, 1945, "for Military Merit and for wounds received in action resulting in his death".