08/28/2026
15 YEARS AGO TODAY: 28 August 2011
Technical Sergeant Angela K. Biggs - U.S. Air Force
Tech. Sgt. Biggs served with the 633rd Surgical Operations Squadron in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom as an NCO in charge of women’s health. On 28 August 2011 her Forward Operating Base (FOB) was hit with a 400-pound vehicle-borne IED. She later recalled the incident:
“I saw the ground lift up in slow-motion, coming toward me like a tidal wave…Then, everything around me started shattering and blowing up… The blast went right through me…It felt like I had ruptured my eardrum. I couldn’t hear anything. It knocked me to the ground. I couldn’t see. There was smoke and dust everywhere. All I could remember thinking was, ‘are we under attack.’…Even though it all happened so fast, it felt like an eternity went by… I kept telling myself ‘you’ve got work, you’ve got to do what you’ve been practicing.’…”
Despite her wounds, Tech. Sgt. Biggs ran to the aid of others injured in the explosion as well as tended to the wounded at the FOB’s casualty collection point.
Angela K. Biggs is a featured recipient in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor’s exhibits.
Permission required for use. Please contact the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, a New York State Parks site under the jurisdiction of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission