SGM Bennie Adkins’ Medal of Honor

Earlier today, the President draped the Medal of Honor around the neck of Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins 48 years after he earned the award. Specialist Don Sloat was also honored and his award was posthumously presented to his brother, Bill. 20-year-old Don Sloat used his body to shield three other soldiers from the blast, losing his own life.

Now, 80 years old, former Sergeant First Class Bennie Adkins’ story was a little more complicated says CNN which recounts part of the story of the battle at A Shau, March 9-12, 1966;

“Adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position defending the camp,” the Army report says. “He continued to mount a defense even while incurring wounds from several direct hits from enemy mortars. Upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding mortar rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. As the hostile fire subsided, Adkins exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire and carried his wounded comrades to a more secure position.”

From Army.mil, Adkins recounts the story;

“It was just not my time that day,” Adkins said. “I was blown from the mortar pit on several occasions, and I was fortunate enough to go outside the camp amongst the enemy and get one of our wounded MedEvaced out. I also made a trip into the minefield to recover some supplies that were air dropped to us. The bottom line is that it was just not my day to go.”

Adkins then withdrew to regroup with a smaller element of Soldiers at the communications bunker. While there, he single-handedly eliminated numerous insurgents with small-arms fire, almost completely exhausting his supply of ammunition. Braving intense enemy fire, he returned to the mortar pit, gathered vital ammunition and evaded fire while returning to the bunker.

After the order was given to evacuate the camp, Adkins and a small group of Soldiers destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, dug their way out of the rear of the bunker, and fought their way out of the camp.

Because of his efforts to carry a wounded Soldier to an extraction point and leave no one behind, Adkins and his group were unable to reach the last evacuation helicopter.

Adkins then rallied the remaining survivors and led the group into the jungle, where they evaded the enemy for 48 hours, until they were rescued by helicopter March 12.

Adkins was credited with killing somewhere around 175 of the enemy but he’s more proud of the lives he saved;

“I’m just a keeper of the medal for those other 16 (U.S. troops) who were in the battle, especially the five who didn’t make it,” he told Army News Service.

“I can tell you every man who was there and the five who lost their lives. I can tell you how that happened. It diminishes, but it does not go away,” Adkins said.

Category: Real Soldiers