This true American hero just received the Medal of Honor. Since press reports have been somewhat confusing and light on details, I did a little digging and came up with this battle narrative.
Bennie, I salute you.
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Battle Narrative
Command Sergeant Major Bennie G. Adkins distinguished himself during 38 hours of close-combat fighting against enemy forces, March 9-12, 1966. At that time, then-Sergeant First Class Adkins was 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.
At the time of action, Sergeant Adkins and nine other U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers were based at Camp A Shau, a Special Forces camp positioned to observe and interdict enemy infiltration into South Vietnam from the north. Camp A Shau was located in the northern part of the country, in the isolated A Shau Valley, which bordered Laos and was separated from the nearest friendly forces by approximately fifty kilometers of dense jungle-covered mountains. The triangular camp was fortified with barbed wire defenses, with an airstrip located just outside its perimeter.
In addition to the 10 U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers manning Camp A Shau, there were six Vietnamese Special Forces, (LLDB) and 210 Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG). In the days leading up to the attack on March 9, two North Vietnamese defectors warned Adkins' camp of an imminent assault by enemy forces. And so in preparation, Camp A Shau was reinforced with seven additional U.S. Special Forces personnel, 149 additional CIDG (Nung) troops, and nine interpreters.
At 3:50 a.m., on the morning of March 9, Special Forces Detachment A-102 at Camp A Shau was subjected to a full-scale assault by an estimated two reinforced North Vietnamese regular Army regiments equipped with mortars, rifles, anti-aircraft guns and machine guns. The battle opened with a mortar barrage and small-arms fire, which continued throughout the night, until 4 a.m., March 10, when the enemy forces assaulted the camp in waves.
On the onset of the first day's attack, Adkins awoke and ran through intense enemy fire to man the American mortar position, which was adjacent to the team house. Adkins continued to man the position despite the position taking direct mortar hits that wounded him and killed several other defenders at his position.
Upon learning that two Americans were killed, and several Americans and Vietnamese were injured in the initial volley, Adkins temporarily turned the mortar over to another Soldier and ran through a hail of exploding mortar rounds to a trench in the center of camp, where the wounded and dying were pinned down. Through the morning of March 9, Adkins would provide aid, drag the seriously injured to safety, and recover the remains of dead American and Vietnamese personnel. With disregard for his own safety, Adkins repeatedly exposed himself to sniper and mortar fire, while moving casualties to the camp dispensary, and to a casualty collection point by the main gate, on the east wall.
Late in the morning of March 9, Adkins assembled a group to provide cover at the camp's airstrip, so that a severely wounded Master Sgt. Gibson could be evacuated. Ignoring any personal risk, Adkins assisted in loading Gibson onto the evacuation aircraft, while under fire, and then provided covering fire support during take-off.
During the evacuation, Adkins was again wounded.
Later that day, two helicopters attempted to land in the center of camp to evacuate the approximately 40 wounded defenders. The first helicopter was shot down and crashed. When the second helicopter landed, Adkins stood fully exposed to enemy fire, and loaded the wounded Soldiers onto the helicopter, despite the enemy directing heavy machine gun and small-arms fire on the helicopter and evacuees.
Later that day, when a resupply air drop landed outside the camp perimeter, Adkins successfully maneuvered outside the camp walls to retrieve the much-needed supplies.
At approximately 4 a.m., March 10, the enemy launched their main attack against the south and east walls. When the assault began, Adkins was in the American mortar pit, and began firing illumination and high-explosive shells. During this action, Adkins' position took a direct hit that killed one, wounded two, knocked down the mortar and wounded him, yet again. With no regard for his injuries, Adkins restored the mortar and continued to fire.
Adkins drew more enemy fire to his position when covering a rescue mission on Camp A Shau's airstrip. U.S. Air Force A-1E pilot Maj. Dafford Myers, along with Maj. Fisher and one other A-1E flight, had been engaged in strafing the enemy at the south and east walls, when Myers' plane caught fire. Myers was forced to make a crash landing on the airstrip. At this time, Adkins increased his volume of fire onto the enemy, drawing their attention onto his own position so that Fisher could safely land and pull the wounded Myers from the runway. Twice, enemy fire struck the American mortar pit and literally blew Adkins into the air, killing and wounded several others at his position. However, the rescue was successfully completed, and Fisher later received the Medal of Honor for his daring action.
Since the start of the March 10 assault, Adkins' position had been hit a total five times � killing four and wounding several others, including Adkins. By 6:30 a.m., Adkins was the only Soldier left firing in the camp.
When all the mortar rounds were expended, Adkins manned a recoilless rifle and turned his attention to a break in the south camp wall, only 30 meters from his position, where enemy was infilling to assault the American mortar position. From his position facing the wall break, Adkins inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and stalled their attempts to overrun the camp. At this time, Adkins was again wounded, when his recoilless rifle took a direct hit.
The enemy had broken into the camp in strength, and the remaining defenders were forced to withdraw to the north wall. During the withdrawal, some joined Adkins in the mortar pit. The defenders in the pit continued to take fire until they exhausted their supply of hand grenades. In time, almost all the defenders in the pit were dead or wounded, with no relent in the enemy assault.
Out of ammunition and with only an M-16 rifle to resist the enemy, Adkins led the remaining defenders to an American communications bunker, in which several Americans were attempting to fight off a company-sized assault through the south gate, and over the wall. Twice, Adkins and his fellow defenders in the bunker succeeded in repulsing the enemy assault on their position. Throughout, Adkins provided medical care to the survivors and coordinated for air support with aircraft overhead.
By about noon, on March 10, the enemy controlled all of the camp except for the American communications bunker, which was held by Adkins and the group at the north wall. The remaining enemy forces launched several unsuccessful counterattacks, but were stopped by Adkins and his team.
His ammunition supply exhausted, Adkins braved intense enemy fire to return to the desolated mortar pit, gathering vital ammunition and evading fire, while returning to the bunker. The situation at Camp A Shau grew dire enough that supporting aircraft were instructed to bomb the camp itself, sparing only the portions held by the remaining defenders.
At about 5 p.m., on March 10, the remaining personnel at the communications bunker were ordered to destroy all communications, equipment and signal operating instructions (radio codebook), and to provide cover for an attempted helicopter evacuation of remaining defenders. Crossing the camp to reach the north wall exposed Adkins and his team to additional enemy fire once more.
Once at the north wall, Adkins and several remaining defenders braved enemy fire in a 350-meter rush to the landing zone, carrying other wounded men. They arrived at the landing zone only to find that the last helicopter had departed moments earlier.
Adkins began to organize and rally the remaining Vietnamese into a patrol, and began an escape by foot through the jungle. The patrol evaded pursuit and continued their escape throughout the night, stopping only for a two-hour rest. Late in the afternoon on March 11, Adkins and his patrol were able to make radio contact with rescue helicopters for another attempted evacuation. Although the group was able to board a rescue helicopter, it was destroyed by enemy machine gun fire before takeoff. The group replenished their supplies and continued to flee through the jungle. They successfully evaded the enemy until they were rescued by helicopter, on the morning of March 12.
Camp A Shau was abandoned only after near continuous close combat for 38 hours, without reinforcements, with limited resupply, and with limited air support, with the surviving defenders engaged in escape and evasion, for an additional 48 hours. Approximately 200 of the camp defenders were killed in action, with 100 wounded. The enemy suffered an estimated 500 to 800 casualties. It is estimated that Adkins killed between 135 and 175 of the enemy, while suffering 18 different wounds. His contribution to the defense of the camp and recovery of the survivors, at great risk to his own life, represents extraordinary heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty, and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, Detachment A-102, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces and the United States Army.
http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/adkins/?from=hp_spotlight
