Bobby Ray Huggins – Colonel, United States Army

From a contemporary press report:

Bobby Ray Huggins, 65, an Army colonel who retired in 1981 and then did project management work on defense weaponry systems for RCA and GTE through the early 1990s, died July 27, 2001, at a hospital in Chesapeake, Virginia. He had cancer.

Colonel Huggins lived in the Washington area about 20 years and was a Springfield resident before moving to Chesapeake in the mid-1990s.

He was born in Houston and grew up in Kerens, Texas. He was a graduate of Texas A&M  University. He received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri and was a graduate of the Army War College.

He joined the Army in 1959 and served in the Vietnam War. His last active duty assignment was as director of the development and engineering directorate of Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command.

His medals included the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, three Meritorious Service Medals and two Army Commendation Medals.

Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Margaret Hulen Huggins of Chesapeake; three daughters, Dana Carole Huggins of Carlisle, Pa., Lynn Elizabeth Kohler of Centreville and Amy Catherine Snyder of Knoxville, Tenn.; his mother, Lillian Fields Huggins of Kerens; a brother; a sister; and four grandchildren.

HUGGINS, BOBBY RAY, COL. USA (Ret.)

On Friday, July 27, 2001 at Chesapeake General Hospital, formerly of Springfield, VA. He was the beloved husband of Margaret Huggins; son of Lillian Fields Huggins of Kerens, TX; father of Dana Carole Huggins of Carlisle, PA, Lynn Elizabeth Kohler (husband, Doug) of Centreville, VA and Amy Catherine Snyder (husband, Allen), of Knoxville, TN; brother of Harold Huggins and Wanda Minor, both of Nacogdoches, TX. Also survived by four grandchildren. Graveside service with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 14. Please, meet at the Administration Building at 8:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Texas A&M Alumni Association, 505 George Bush Dr., College Station, TX 77840 or The American Cancer Society.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard