Malcolm Riggin [Trigg County Historical Society Photo]
As we take pause to remember the over 2.8 million U.S. military casualties in American history, we remember one of Trigg County’s first multifaceted athletes.
Malcolm Riggin was considered one of the best two-sport athletes in the early days of Trigg County High School. After a standout athletic career, Riggin joined in the U.S. Marines during World War II. He never saw his 20th birthday.
Known as “Goober”, Riggin was a three-year starter on Trigg County’s football teams in 1940-42. He played quarterback as a junior and proved to be a weapon in the run game. While the Wildcats had several talented running backs, Riggin’s number would be called on eight extra point runs during the season. He was also key on defense, picking off a pass and returning it for a score in Trigg County’s 25-0 shutout of Clay.
Riggin was part of a Trigg County defense that allowed just 25 points in nine games. Losses to Russellville and Providence kept the Wildcats from claiming the Western Kentucky Conference title.
When Paul Perdue left coaching in 1940, Louis Walters took over as football coach and moved Riggin to running back. While the Wildcats did not replicate the same success in 1941, Riggin flourished in his role.
On a team that averaged 10 points a game, Riggin scored two touchdowns in wins over Elkton and Clay. He caught the game-winning pass from Lacy Wallace in Trigg’s 14-7 win over rival Russellville.
Riggin also played for the Wildcat basketball team and was a reserve on the 1939-40 team that won the school’s first district title with a 38-35 upset of the Joe Fulks-led Kuttawa team that went on to win the region title.
Riggin’s athletic exploits were commonly reported in The Cadiz Record, where Malcom’s father Claude was the printer of the weekly paper. He served in that role until he retired in 1964.
Two of Malcom’s teammates told his sister Dorothy Lee that he was “the toughest and fastest man who has ever played on the Trigg County team.”
After graduating from Trigg County in 1942, Malcolm attended mechanical school in Murray and enlisted in the Marines in October of that year. He completed boot camp at Parris Island and was sent to the Pacific theater in December. Serving in the military was nothing new to the Riggin family as Claude served in three different branches of the military and fought in four wars.
On December 23, 1943, his family was notified by the War Department that Malcolm had died in combat the previous month. A lot of details weren’t known about where or how Malcolm was killed although it’s believed he died while fighting on Okinawa Island. He was buried at sea.
Riggin is remembered on a stone in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. Malcolm was awarded a Purple Heart for his bravery and service. He was seven months shy of his 20th birthday.
