In the closing days of fighting in Europe during WWII, Allied Forces were driving German troops before them like a bulldozer. On April 19, 1945, the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, Company D, 23rd Infantry Regiment was battling for Leipzig, Germany. After taking half of the city, the American commanding officer ordered the heavy weapons squad to climb to the third floor of the Jahnallee apartment building and train their .30-caliber Browning M1919 machine gun on the entrenched Nazis.
What set this scene apart from many others in war-torn Europe was that photographer Robert Capa, dressed in unmarked Army fatigues, followed the squad up the stairs to capture the fight on film. Return fire from the Germans was so heavy that only one man at a time could run the machinegun. Shortly after switching gunners, a German sniper fired and killed a 21-year-old American soldier with a single shot between the eyes. The young soldier fell to the floor and his comrade had to climb over his sprawled body to continue firing at the Germans. Capa captured the tragedy on film.
Three weeks later, when Life magazine published their May 14, 1945 issue proclaiming victory in Europe, the photos of the machinegun squad were published with the faces of the men obscured. The identities of the American soldiers remained a mystery, but Capa’s photos entitled Death on a Leipzig Balcony and The Last Man to Die have become iconic images repeatedly seen in WWII history books.
Mystery Solved
The mystery was recently solved when the sole surviving member of the machinegun crew, Lehman Riggs of Cookeville, TN, shared his story of that day. “We had taken half of the city, and the city was divided by a man-made canal,” the then 92-year-old Riggs said. “We had to go across these bridges to get to the other side of the city. They had blocked the bridges with burned-out tanks and streetcars, anything that would obstruct us from going across. There was a park in front of this building, and they [German troops] were dug in and we couldn’t see them. We had orders to go up to the third floor of this apartment building and set up our guns to spray that area out there in the park to try to keep them pinned down until our troops could cross that bridge.”
“I happened to look up and see the bullet pierce his nose.”
Riggs related that he didn’t know that the famous Life photographer was not one of the Army’s routine combat photographers. “We only fired with one person at a time, and we alternated…one person being exposed all the time,” Riggs said. “I had just been firing the gun, and I just stepped back off the gun and he had taken over,” Riggs said as he pointed to a picture in the Life magazine photo spread. “In 30 seconds, I happened to look up and see the bullet pierce his nose. The bullet that hit him killed him, ricocheted around the room, and it’s a miracle that it didn’t hit me. As soon as he got hit, somebody had to take the gun. I had to jump over him and start firing the gun.”
Riggs revealed that the soldier killed that day was Raymond “Robert” Bowman. Riggs admitted that other American troops had died in the closing days of battle, but Robert Bowman became iconic as the last man to die in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Music City Honor Flight
In the spring of 2012, Music City Honor Flight (MCHF) chartered a jet and flew several WWII veterans to Washington D.C. Lehman Riggs traveled with the group. MCHF, a program honoring Nashville-area WWII veterans, helps fly them to Washington D.C. to see the World War II Memorial. The next all-expense paid trip (costing $60,000) was scheduled for September 5, 2012.
According to retired Army Colonel John Furgess, President of MCHF, “16 million Americans served during WWII. Now there are probably just a little more than 2.7 million still alive (in 2012). However, we are losing them at a rate of anywhere from l,500 to l,700 a day. So it is urgent that we take as many as possible to see the memorial that was built to thank them for their service.”
Of the 16.1 million Americans who served in the global conflict, about 119,000 are still living as of 2023, according to the National World War II Museum. An average of 131 of them are dying each day, the museum estimates, citing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics.
Lehman Riggs Obituary
Lehman R. Riggs, age 101 of Cookeville, passed away Thursday August 19, 2021, at Heritage Pointe Senior Living. He was a World War II Veteran and the oldest living veteran in Putnam County.
Funeral services with military honors were at 1 p.m. Monday August 23 at Stevens Street Baptist Church. Graveside services and interment were at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday August 25 in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO.
Lehman was born January 17, 1920 in Pocahontas, Arkansas to the late Charles Ernest Riggs and Eva Dawson Riggs.
His service to his country began before Army enlistment
He moved to Michigan to work in the automotive industry, which supported the US military efforts during World War II. Lehman played a key role as a supervisor and had government deferment from active military service. After witnessing many of his friends with children going off to fight, he decided to forgo the deferment and enlist in the US Army. He saw seven months of combat mostly in Germany, and he participated in the Battle of the Bulge. On April 19, 1945, Lehman and a fallen comrade were photographed while providing cover fire on the third story of a balcony in Leipzig, Germany. The photograph was later published in Life magazine entitled, “The Last Man to Die.” Later Lehman returned to Leipzig in 2012 and 2016 and was honored by the town for his service.
Following the war, Lehman started a career with the US Postal Service. He retired in 1977 after 30 years of service.
Lehman was a member of the Veterans Honor Guard in Cookeville. He participated in more than 1,000 funeral military honors for veterans.
Lehman was a faithful Christian and an active member and Sunday School teacher at Stevens Street Baptist Church.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife of 60 years, Lila Waller Riggs; second wife of 22 years, Jean Talley Riggs; sisters, Ernestine Riggs, Madeline Whiteaker, Eileen Dalton, Geneva Miller, Eva Lena Mitchner, Betty Jo Mullins, and Dorothy Bugbee; and brother, Charles Raymond Riggs.
He was survived by two brothers, Dwight Riggs of South Carolina and James Riggs of Florida, who have since passed on.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Veterans Honor Guard, P. O. Box 67, Cookeville, TN 38503 or Lighthouse Christian Camp, 205 Serenity Pl, Smithville, TN 37166.