Private First Class Bigness was a member of Headquarters Company, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. On 28 February 1952, while asleep in his bunker near Koyonha, North Korea, it caught fire and he was fatally burned.

Bigness was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.