The Edina Sentinel
Edina, Missouri
September 22, 1966Kigar In Serious Condition
Larry Kigar, 16-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Cordie Kigar of northwest of Baring, remains in a serious condition in the Kirksville Osteopathic Hospital following injuries sustained in a one-car accident early Saturday morning. He was en route home when the accident occurred a few feet below the crossroads west of the Pleasant Ridge Church which is about 6 miles west of Greensburg. He was found by Mike Ferris of near Bible Grove who was a distance behind him and saw the headlights of the car disappear into the darkness. Kigar's car had gone down the hill and into a deep ditch on the north side of the road and was completely hidden by brush and because of the deepness of the ditch. He was taken to the hospital by the Hudson-Rimer ambulance where he underwent surgery for internal injuries and a skull fracture. Sheriff Vern C. Goodwin and Francis Hudson investigated the accident. The car was completely demolished. He is a brother of Jack Kigar of Edina and a grandson of Albert Couch of west of Greensburg.
The Edina Sentinel
Edina, Missouri
January 2, 1969PROMOTED
Larry E. Kigar, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Cordie Kigar of near Bible Grove and a brother of Jack Kigar of Edina, has been promoted to Specialist Four. He is with the 198th Infantry in Vietnam and was the youngest in his company to receive this promotion in the least amount of time. He entered the army in March, 1968, and was sent to Vietnam in September.
The Edina Sentinel
Edina, Missouri
May 8, 1969Sgt. Larry Eugene Kigar
Killed In Action Friday
In South VietnamSgt. Larry Eugene Kigar, 19-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Cordie L. Kigar of Rt. 1, Baring, near Bible Grove, was killed in action Friday, May 2, 1969, in hostile territory in South Vietnam. Two military men from Kirksville delivered the message to the Kigars during the noon hour Monday and a telegram from the War Department confirmed the message Tuesday. The only information received at this time was that he was killed by a booby trap on a night ambush.
Sgt. Kigar entered the army by voluntary draft March 28, 1968, and was sent to Ft. Bliss, Texas, for approximately 16 weeks of basic training. From there he went to Ft. Polk, La., for several weeks advanced infantry training and after a 30-day leave at his home reported to Oakland, Calif., Sept. 1, 1968, for duty in Vietnam. He was a squad leader in Co. C, 198th Light Infantry Brigade. Sgt. Kigar had been injured in a foot but returned to active duty several weeks before his death.
He was the youngest of the three sons of Cordie Leo and Iva Irene Couch Kigar and was born Nov. 28, 1949, at Kirksville. He spent his entire life before entering service at the parent's home south of Bible Grove and attended the elementary school there. He graduated from the Memphis High School with the class of 1968 as he had to complete the latter part of his senior year with that class due to serious injuries received in a car accident in September, 1966.
Besides his parents, he is survived by two brothers, Leo Richard Kigar of near Bible Grove and Jackie Lee Kigar of Edina, three nephews and two nieces, his maternal grandfather, Albert E. Couch, of west of Greensburg, and several aunts and uncles.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother.
Military services are pending the arrival of the body and will be at the Bible Grove Christian Church, of which he was an active member, with burial in the church cemetery.
The Edina Sentinel
Edina, Missouri
May 15, 1969FUNERAL SERVICES TUESDAY
FOR SGT. LARRY E. KIGARFuneral services for Army Sgt. Larry Eugene Kigar were at 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon at the Bible Grove Christian Church with Army Chaplain Hueston of Ft. Leonard Wood officiating. A quiet military service was observed and burial was in the church cemetery. Pallbearers were cousins.
Sgt. Kigar, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Cordie Kigar of Rt. 1, Baring, near Bible Grove, was killed May 2, 1969, by hostile action in the Republic of South Vietnam. The body, accompanied by a military escort, arrived via Santa Fe at Baring about 4:30 o'clock Monday afternoon and was taken to the Gerth & Baskett Funeral Home in Memphis where it remained until the funeral hour.
He left Sept. 2, 1968, for South Vietnam following his basic training at Ft. Bliss, Texas, and advanced training at Ft. Polk, La. He had been headquartered in the area of Chu Lai and was a squad leader with the 198th Infantry.
The Edina Sentinel
Edina, Missouri
August 28, 1969POSTHUMOUS AWARDS --- Mr. and Mrs. Cordie L. Kigar of Rt. 1, Baring, were presented with eight military awards honoring their son, Sgt. Larry E. Kigar, 19, who died of wounds in Vietnam May 2, 1969. The presentation was made at Memphis Monday afternoon in the Circuit Courtroom of the Scotland County Courthouse by Colonel John F. Gerrity, professor of military Science at the Northeast Missouri State College at Kirksville. Receiving the awards with the parents and at the right were the Sergeant's two brothers, Richard Kigar of West of Bible Grove and Jack Kigar of near Edina. A number of family and friends was also present.
Assisting Colonel Gerrity in the presentation were from left to right Mayor Harold Davis of Memphis and Mayor Pete Anesi of Kirksville. All three expressed to the Kigar family their pride in the accomplishments of Sgt. Kigar.
The awards included the Bronze Star medal for meritorious service, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman's Badge and two marksmanship Badges.
Sgt. Kigar was wounded about 6 o'clock in the morning of May 2, 1969, near Chu Lai, Vietnam, while on a night ambush and died about fifteen minutes later in a helicopter en route to a hospital there. He entered the army by voluntary draft March 28, 1968, and reported to Oakland, Calif., Sept. 1, 1968, for duty in Vietnam.
Mrs. Kigar is a daughter of Albert Couch and a sister of Harold and Claude Couch of west of Greensburg in Knox County.
Also see Vietnam Memorial database entry: Larry Eugene Kigar
