Bryan M. Riggs, Ph.D., internationally known as an award-winning author and World War II military historian, conducted an exhaustive five-year study of Woody Williams, the last Medal of Honor recipient from World War II and the Pacific War for his book “Flamethrower.”
Riggs visited Iwo Jima and Guam with Williams in 2015 and 2018 and walked the same battlefields where Williams fought during WWII. Flamethrower has been endorsed by Commandant Gray, Commandant Krulak, General Zinni and Colonel Jon Hoffman (author of “Chesty”).
“Yesterday we lost a Marine Corps legend, Woody Williams, the last Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. He fought bravely on Guam and Iwo Jima and was one of 82 Marines out of almost 700,000 to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in WWII, the highest decoration this nation can bestow on an individual for valorous acts going beyond the call of duty during combat,” says Riggs. “It is sad to see the greatest generation die off like they are, but Woody lived a productive and active life for 98 years and served our country honorably during a challenging time during our country’s history as we fought the fascist powers of Hitler’s Germany and Hirohito’s Japan.”
Dr. Riggs has written five books on World War II and the Holocaust: Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers (2002), Rescued from the Reich (2004), Lives of Hitler’s Jewish Soldier (2009), The Rabbi Saved by Hitler’s Soldiers (2016) and Flamethrower (2020).
He served as a volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces and as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Besides his military service in the IDF (1998), he studied in a Yeshiva in Jerusalem (1993-1994), promoted his books translated into Hebrew during a book tour in Israel (2004), and was the proud recipient of the award to tour Israel on behalf of the Jewish War Veterans of Dallas (2005). Currently, he runs his own Financial Advisory firm, Riggs Wealth Management, LLC.
Riggs has served on the boards of the Dallas Holocaust Museum and Iwo Jima American Association. He currently is serving on the board of the American Jewish Committee in Dallas and is a member of the Jewish War Veterans. In the pursuit of supporting human rights and building good relations between nations, he was awarded the prestigious award of the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung exchange with the AJC and traveled to Germany on a goodwill tour in 2016.
