Heroism of SFC Bennie G. Adkins at Camp A Shau

Sergeant First Class Bennie G. Adkins served as an Intelligence Sergeant with Detachment A-102, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces, during combat operations at Camp A Shau, Republic of Vietnam, from March 9 to 12, 1966. When the camp came under attack by a large force of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong in the early morning hours, Sergeant Adkins braved intense enemy fire to man a mortar position, continuously adjusting fire to protect the camp. Despite being wounded by direct hits on his position, he persisted.

Learning that several soldiers were wounded near the camp's center, Adkins handed off the mortar to another soldier and ran through the exploding mortar rounds to drag his comrades to safety. As the enemy fire eased, he exposed himself to sniper fire while carrying the wounded to the dispensary. When his group came under heavy fire from members of the Civilian Irregular Defense Group who had defected to the enemy, Adkins left the camp to evacuate a severely wounded American, all while covering the rescue under fire.

Later, when a resupply drop fell outside the camp perimeter, he again ventured outside the camp to retrieve the critical supplies. In the early morning of March 10, the enemy launched their main assault. Within two hours, Adkins was the last man firing a mortar. After exhausting the mortar rounds, he switched to a recoilless rifle, delivering effective fire on enemy positions. Despite receiving more wounds, he fought off relentless attacks, killing numerous insurgents with small arms fire.

With ammunition running dangerously low, Adkins returned to the mortar pit to gather supplies and raced back through heavy fire to his comrades in the communications bunker. Ordered to evacuate the camp, he and a small group destroyed all sensitive equipment and documents, dug their way out of the bunker, and fought their way to safety. While carrying a wounded soldier to the extraction point, Adkins discovered the last helicopter had already departed. Leading his group, they evaded the enemy until being rescued by helicopter on March 12.

During the 38-hour battle and the following 48 hours of escape and evasion, Adkins fought with mortars, machine guns, recoilless rifles, small arms, and hand grenades, reportedly killing between 135 and 175 enemy combatants while sustaining 18 wounds. His extraordinary heroism and selfless actions, above and beyond the call of duty, earned him the Medal of Honor.