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Dodgers To Honor Rob Riggle For Marine Corps Service

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — He may be best known for his work on "The Daily Show," "Saturday Night Live," and "FOX NFL Sunday," and as a supporting actor in some big hit comedies, but Rob Riggle spent more than two decades as a Marine, and it is for that role that the Los Angeles Dodgers will honor him Saturday night.

Riggle, who was on active duty with the Marine Corps for nine years, and served 14 years in the Reserve, will be honored as the Veteran of the Game during Saturday night's contest between Los Angeles and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

The actor-comedian joined the Marines at age 19 in 1990, and became a second lieutenant two years later after graduating from the University of Kansas and Officer Candidates School. He served as a public affairs officer in Liberia, Albania and Kosovo, and left active duty as a captain in 2000, immediately joining the Reserve.

Riggle's reserve unit was among the first military responders following the terror attacks in New York  on Sept. 11, 2001, and he worked for nearly three weeks as part of the "bucket brigades" removing rubble by hand at ground zero. He was recalled to active duty again later in 2001, and served two tours in Afghanistan over the next year.

He continued to serve as a member of the Reserve until 2013, gaining the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2009.

Saturday's game starts at 6:10 p.m.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

 

 

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