SOF Pic of the Day: Remembering 1/75 Ranger Tanner Stone Higgins

Today we remember a twenty-three-year-old US Army Ranger from Yantis, Texas, SGT Tanner Stone Higgins.

Higgins was killed in Logar Province, Afghanistan, on 14 April 2012 while leading an assault against an enemy compound. He was mortally wounded by small arms fire.

The video below shows his remains being brought back to their final resting place in the great state of Texas.

Shortly after graduating from high school, Higgins joined the Army in 2007. He completed his initial training at Fort Benning as an infantryman.  After completing the Basic Airborne Course, he was assigned to the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP), also at Benning.

Following the successful completion of the program, Higgins was assigned to Company D. 1st Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment. He served there as a rifleman, automatic rifleman, gun team leader, and Ranger team leader.  SGT Higgins was a graduate of the US Army Sniper School.

Col. Mark W. Odom, Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, said of Higgins:

“In the final hours of his life, Sergeant Higgins helped his strike force accomplish its mission against a determined enemy in Afghanistan. Without reservation or hesitation, he carried the hopes of our nation—as he had done so many times before.”

SGT Higgins was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, and Purple Heart

He is survived by his wife, Shelby, and his mother and father