Webster’s Dictionary defines a treasure as “something of great worth or value; a person esteemed as rare or precious.” This definition certainly fits the description of Opelika resident CSM (retired) Bennie Adkins, a gentleman who will be the keynote speaker at Opelika’s Memorial Day services, hosted by the city on Monday, May 25th beginning at 10 a.m. in front of City Hall. In the event of rain, the gathering will move into Council Chambers.
Command Sergeant Major (Ret.) Adkins served our country during the tumultuous Vietnam Conflict as a part of the Special Forces units. In those days, Special Forces units comprised a very small part of the overall Army force structure. As a result, many of the Special Forces Non-Commissioned Officers had served with or known each other for a number of years. They bonded and tended to stay in the Special Forces units. In fact, many had already been to Vietnam as Advisors during the period between 1961 and 1965, before the first conventional combat troops were introduced.
In March, 1966, then Sergeant First Class (SFC) Adkins was a member of a small detachment of U.S. Army Special Forces in an unheard of valley in the South Vietnam Mountains called Ashau. Located just a couple of kilometers from the Laotian border, the Ashau Special Forces camp was astride an important infiltration route of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and apparently a real thorn in their side, as this area became one of the earliest major efforts of the NVA to overrun and destroy a key Special Forces camp along that border.
The battle fought at Ashau by SFC Adkins’ Special Forces Detachment and its indigenous South Vietnamese forces was akin to the battle of the Alamo in its ferocity and heroism. Adkins was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his acts of bravery and heroism during this battle; for his skills in defending American positions against overwhelming odds; and for his willingness to place himself in a position of great risk to rescue and protect fellow soldiers who, because of their wounds, were not able to defend themselves. To quote his superior officer in his recommendation of Adkins for the Medal of Honor, “SFC Adkins’ valor [which went] above and beyond the call of duty against overwhelming superior hostile forces at great risk to his own life and at the cost of several wounds, is in the highest tradition of the Armed Forces of the United States and is deserving of recognition by the Congress of the United States the awarding of the Nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor.” Because of all that he did, many men not only made it out of the battlefield, they made it home, back into the arms of families who loved them.
Unfortunately, because of the political climate of the day, SFC Adkins was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in lieu of the Medal of Honor for which he had been recommended. Mayor Gary Fuller, City Administrator John Seymour (himself a retired colonel who served in the Special Forces units) and Reverend Don Turner are working with Congressman Mike Rogers’ office to “correct” this action and reinstate the original recommendation – the Medal of Honor – for CSM (Ret.) Adkins through the United States Congress.
Regardless of the outcome of these efforts, the City of Opelika hopes you will join us at our Memorial Day Services and help us pay tribute not only to this “Opelika treasure” who fought valiantly for his country and his fellow soldiers, but to all of Opelika’s brave men and women who sacrificed so much for our country. And then please join us for a casual reception at City Hall immediately following the services.
CSM (Ret.) Adkins – and the multitudes of soldiers before and since his time of service – are the very reason the United States of America is a free country today. Let us all remember – and never forget – that Freedom isn’t free!
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on May 21, 2009. View the original page.
