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The expelled student who won D-Day, WWII and saved the world
wnd.com ^ | 6/6/2022 | Chuck Norris

Posted on 06/07/2022 6:34:36 AM PDT by rktman

On June 6, 1944, Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the green light for the largest amphibious military operation in history. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of the heavily Nazi-fortified coast of France's Normandy region has come to be more popularly known as D-Day. On that monumental patriotic battle hung the balance of power in World War II (1939-1945) and the fate of the world.

"Higgins was not native to the South. … He grew up in Nebraska, where, at various ages, he was expelled from school for fighting. Higgins' temperament improved around boats. He built his first vessel in the basement when he was 12. It was so large that a wall had to be torn down to get it out.

"He moved South in his early 20s, working in the lumber industry. He hadn't thought much about boats again until a tract of timber in shallow waters required him to build a special vessel so he could remove the wood. Higgins signed up for a correspondence course in naval architecture, shifting his work from timber to boats.

"In the late 1930s, he owned a small shipyard in New Orleans. By then, his special shallow-craft boat had become popular with loggers and oil drillers. They were 'tunnel stern boats,' whose magic was in the way the 'hull incorporated a recessed tunnel used to protect the propeller from grounding,' according to the Louisiana Historical Association.

"Higgins called it the 'Eureka' boat. The war brought interest by U.S. forces in a similar style vessel to attack unguarded beaches and avoid coming ashore at heavily defended ports. The Marines settled on the Higgins boat, transforming what had been a 50-employee company into one of the world's largest manufacturers.

(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: andrewhiggins; andrewjacksonhiggins; higginsboats; nola; usetherestforrigging; wrappedittwice; ww2
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Missed this post yesterday in honor of those of the greatest generation. IIRC one of the yards was still working on boats of various types on the north side of Hwy 90 just east of New Orleans for a long time. Another location ended up being turned into the Michoud Assembly Facility that is still used today to support NASA's space program. Thanks Mr. Higgins.
1 posted on 06/07/2022 6:34:36 AM PDT by rktman
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To: rktman

Sorry Mr Higgins, we know you invented that boat and helped win WWII, but we don’t like your racist name. Now go share a cell with Dr Seuss.


2 posted on 06/07/2022 6:38:31 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: skeeter

Not funny


3 posted on 06/07/2022 6:47:10 AM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
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To: skeeter

One of the most unknown of the unknown heroes of D-Day was a man who never set foot on a Normandy beach, never commanded a single troop and never wore a uniform – Andrew Jackson Higgins.


4 posted on 06/07/2022 6:47:16 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: rktman

Higgins was also known as being tough, wild and wily.

He once hung a sign at his company that said, “Anybody caught stealing tools out of this yard won’t get fired – he’ll go to the hospital.”


I like that


5 posted on 06/07/2022 6:48:33 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: skeeter

LOL! Yeah, I thought that as well.😁


6 posted on 06/07/2022 6:50:35 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: PeterPrinciple

There is a nice exhibit dedicated to Higgins at the WWII museum in NOLA.


7 posted on 06/07/2022 6:50:52 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: rktman

The “I am only one” quote in the article came from Edward Everett Hale.


8 posted on 06/07/2022 6:51:12 AM PDT by Buttons12 ( )
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To: rktman

Higgins’ life reminds me again of the words of D. L. Moody, who once wrote next to Isaiah 6:8 in his Bible: “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do, and what I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do.”


We need more warriors!


9 posted on 06/07/2022 6:51:42 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: skeeter

Indeed. It’s why the museum is located in NOLA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_WWII_Museum

The museum opened as the D-Day Museum, on June 6, 2000, the 56th anniversary of D-Day, focusing on the amphibious invasion of Normandy. As the Higgins boats, vital to amphibious operations, were designed, built, and tested in New Orleans by Higgins Industries, the city was the natural home for such a project. Furthermore, New Orleans was the home of historian and author Stephen Ambrose, who spearheaded the effort to build the museum. Ambrose also wrote a book entitled D-Day in 1994, which describes the planning and execution of Operation Neptune, which was launched on June 6, 1944. The early emphasis of the museum on D-Day, the location of Higgins Industries, and Ambrose’s connections to New Orleans were all factors in the museum being established in New Orleans.[6]


10 posted on 06/07/2022 6:55:48 AM PDT by abb
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To: PeterPrinciple

I share his opinion of tool thieves.


11 posted on 06/07/2022 7:03:06 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: skeeter
You're post is illustrative of how easy the left are able to control your thinking and shape your thoughts with the bile they spew.

By repeating it, even though you do it jokingly doesn't shame or ridicule them, it elevates and inspires them because they know it's been planted in the minds.

It confirms they're winning.

12 posted on 06/07/2022 7:14:03 AM PDT by lewislynn (The Murdochs might be citizens but they aren't true blue Americans.)
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To: lewislynn

The fact the woke left has no shame is hardly my fault.


13 posted on 06/07/2022 7:16:35 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: rktman

Wow, do I feel stupid. My MIL lives in Columbus, and I and the children saw a Higgins boat memorial in the park. We went and toured it and I told the kids about what it represented. But I had no idea that Higgins was FROM Columbus, which explains why the park has a memorial to the Higgins boats.


14 posted on 06/07/2022 7:20:20 AM PDT by wbarmy (Trying to do better.)
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To: PeterPrinciple; All
never commanded a single troop and never wore a uniform – Andrew Jackson Higgins.

Somewhat inaccurate. Higgins was an enlisted man, and then a junior officer (Lt.) in the Nebraska National Guard.

He participated in exercises in river crossings while in the Guard, before he owned his company. He was in his 20s, it seems, at that time.

15 posted on 06/07/2022 7:21:29 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: lewislynn

That is a very thoughtful and true reply. Nicely put.


16 posted on 06/07/2022 7:24:21 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (Wanting to make America great isn’t an insult unless you’re trying to make it worse! ULTRAMAGA!!)
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To: rktman
Well worth a visit:

https://andrewjacksonhigginsmemorialfoundation.org/


17 posted on 06/07/2022 7:26:02 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: rktman
Great article…thanks for posting it. This is astonishing. I had no idea…
"By September 1943, 12,964 of the American Navy's 14,072 vessels had been designed by Higgins Industries. Put another way, 92% of the U.S. Navy was a Higgins navy."

18 posted on 06/07/2022 7:26:30 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (Wanting to make America great isn’t an insult unless you’re trying to make it worse! ULTRAMAGA!!)
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To: rktman

https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/historical-stories/patented-boat-won-war


19 posted on 06/07/2022 7:39:34 AM PDT by KC Burke (If all the world is a stage, I would like to request my lighting be adjusted.)
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To: rktman

One of guys at my church drove one of those at D-Day. It was pretty horrible


20 posted on 06/07/2022 7:43:04 AM PDT by AppyPappy (Biden told Al Roker "America is back". Unfortunately, he meant back to the 1970's)
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