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James Huggs (January 10, 1910 - December 10, 1944) was a US Army First Lieutenant who led G-Company, 92nd Infantry Division on an ill-fated assault on the Serchio River. He was Capt. Nokes's executive officer before Birdsong.

Biography[]

Huggs was born in 1910 in Harlem, New York. He was a son of World War 1 veteran and a teacher. At the age of 17 his was accepted to go to Harvard University were he became the top of his class. After graduating from Harvard, Huggs joins the U.S. Army in July of 1941 where his first served as a truck driver. After a year Pearl Harbor he was assigned to the 92th division at Fort Huachuca, Arizona were he befriend Aubrey Stamps, Hector Negron, Bishop Cummings, and Sam Train.

The Café Incident[]

In 1943, Huggs and four black soldiers went to traveled to Merryville, Louisiana near Camp Claiborne on leave to get ice cream sundaes, but Huggs in the jeep to put out a smoke. Minutes later he saw MPs forcing German prisoners out of the building, Huggs asked Bishop what happened to the ice slops but didn't response. This resulted in the soldiers pointing their own guns at the café manager and two of his friends in front of the manager's family. Huggs and the men went overseas to fight Nazis in the Italian Campaign.

Death[]

In late 1944 during the Gothic line phase of the Italian campaign. Huggs is in charge of George company, their objective is to secure the Serchio River for the German Army. When the 92th was ready to cross the river, Axis Sally was on the radio telling the black soldiers to give up as Train and Bishop were talking her on the radio, Huggs ordered them to be quiet before getting shot in the head by a random German soldier, right in front of Train. A disastrous attack ensues on German positions across the Serchio River. Captain Nokes, calls down artillery on the 92nd's own position, refusing to believe their reports of how far they have advanced. Many American soldiers are killed, leaving Negron stranded on the wrong side of the river with three men: Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps, Sergeant Bishop Cummings, and Pfc. Sam Train with the Head of the Primavera that he found in Florence.

Gallery[]

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