Salute to Local Veterans December

R.C. Higgins served 19 months in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps as a field artillery gunner. While deployed, he says he missed hot home-cooked meals the most. Higgins earned a variety of decorations and medals during his service, including a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm. He was born in Salt Lake City, but he and his wife Nancy have called Columbia home for many years. As a retired Veteran, Higgins enjoys helping others, especially Veterans with addiction issues, and serves as a mentor for Veterans Treatment Court. Though he says one of his greatest achievements since exiting the military was joining forces with his fellow comrades to establish Welcome Home, the Veterans’ shelter and transitional housing organization in Columbia. Even after 25 years since it was founded, he remains passionate about the mission and says the new Welcome Home campus is his favorite place in town. He states, “It started out as a mission to take care of our fellow Veterans returning home and to this day we are committed to giving every Veteran a deserved ‘welcome home.’ ”

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