Diggs is a veteran of the Vietnam War and served aboard one of the ships that helped in the evacuation of Saigon. The storyline for "Elogium" , the first story he pitched to Star Trek, was based on his experiences aboard that ship which was actually followed by a school of fish. Diggs also worked as a firefighter, an airline steward, a technician in the Navy, and a security guard and background actor on Renegade. At the request of Jimmy Diggs, one of the characters at Star Trek: Voyager was named after Samantha Wildman, the seven-year-old kidney donor for his wife Linette.