Opelika (Alabama) resident to receive Medal of Honor
President Barack Obama will present the Medal of Honor to Opelika, Alabama resident and retired Army Command Sergeant Major Bennie G. Adkins on September 15 at the White House.
A Fort Benning area press conference with Command Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins is scheduled for 1 p.m. on September 4 at the National Infantry Museum. Media who wish to participate in the press conference should contact Army Public Affairs at 703-693-7589.
Adkins will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving as an Intelligence Sergeant with Detachment A-102, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces at Camp A Shau in the Republic of Vietnam. Adkins distinguished himself during 38 hours of close-combat fighting and 48-hours of escape and evasion against enemy forces, March 9-12, 1966.
Adkins was drafted into the Army in 1956, at the age of 22. He served in the 2nd Infantry Division until leaving to join Special Forces in 1961. He deployed to Vietnam three times between February 1963 and December 1971. The actions for which he will receive the Medal of Honor took place during his second tour.
After Vietnam, Command Sergeant Major Adkins served approximately two years as a first sergeant for the Army Garrison Communications Command at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He then joined Class #3 of the Army Sergeants Major Academy in El Paso, Texas. After graduation, he served with Special Forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and then led training at Fort Sherman’s Jungle School in the Panama Canal Zone. He retired from the Army in 1978.
Command Sergeant Major Adkins and his wife of 59 years, Mary Adkins, currently reside in Opelika, Alabama. They will both attend the Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House in September.
Please visit: http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/adkins for more information on Command Sergeant Major Adkins’ Medal of Honor. All media inquiries should be directed to Army Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., at 703-693-7589.
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