ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER HONORS VIETNAM VETERANS AT ANNUAL VETERANS DAY PROGRAM

Atlanta, GA – In conjunction with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, the Atlanta History Center’s annual Veterans Day program will honor Vietnam veterans, and will feature Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam veteran Command Sergeant Major Bennie G. Adkins and retired Lieutenant General Claude M. Kicklighter.

Veterans Day commemorative activities, generously sponsored by Regions Bank, will begin at 11 AM November 11, 2015 with a bagpipe presentation, the National Anthem performed by Atlanta Opera soloist Timothy Miller and music by the Woodward Academy Band. This program is free to veterans and the general public. Active and retired military, veterans and up to five members of their families will receive free admission to the entire Atlanta History Center campus from 10 AM to 5:30 PM on November 11, 2015. 

Command Sergeant Major Adkins is the first Medal of Honor recipient to serve as keynote speaker for a History Center Veterans Day program. The program also features remarks by former U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss and Commissioner Mike Roby of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service.

Command Sergeant Major Adkins was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama on Sept. 15, 2014, for his service in Vietnam in 1966, during his second of three non-consecutive tours there. He distinguished himself during close-combat fighting against enemy forces from March 9 to 12 that year.

While serving with Detachment A-102, 5thSpecial Forces Group, 1stSpecial Forces at Camp “A Shau” in Vietnam, then-Sergeant First Class Adkins manned a mortar positon during attack by a large North Vietnamese force in the early morning of March 9, incurring wounds from several direct hits from enemy mortars. Running through exploding mortar rounds, he dragged several wounded comrades to safety. He later evacuated a seriously wounded American to an airstrip outside the camp, and left the camp again to retrieve much-needed supplies.

In the early morning of March 10, enemy forces launched their main assault, and within two hours Sergeant First Class Adkins was the only defender firing a mortar weapon. As North Vietnamese soldiers infiltrated the camp perimeter, he switched to rifle fire after all mortar rounds were expended to fight off waves of attackers. After receiving orders to evacuate, he and a small group of soldiers dug out of their bunker and fought their way out of the camp. Because of his efforts to carry a wounded soldier to an extraction point, Sergeant First Class Adkins and his group were unable to reach the last evacuation helicopter. He then led the group into the jungle, evading the enemy for two days, until they were rescued by helicopter on March 12.

During 38 hours of battle and 48 hours of escape and evasion, he killed an estimated 135 to 175 enemy soldiers while sustaining 18 wounds.    

Command Sergeant Major Adkins was drafted into the Army Dec. 5, 1956, at age 22, from Waurika, Oklahoma. Upon completion of initial training at Fort Bliss, Texas, he was assigned to a garrison unit in Giessen, Germany, with a follow-on assignment to the 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Benning, Georgia. After attending Airborne School in 1961, he volunteered for Special Forces. He served with the Special Forces for more than 13 years with the 7th, 3rd, 6th and 5th Special Forces Groups (Airborne).

After Vietnam, Adkins served as First Sergeant for the Army Garrison Communications Command in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He then joined Class #3 of the Army Sergeants Major Academy in El Paso, Texas. Following graduation, Adkins served with the 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 is a resident of Opelika, Alabama. A full biography of his impressive service is available at AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/Veterans. 

Lieutenant General Claude M. Kicklighter commanded the US Army, Pacific (Western Command) for a decade starting in 1989. In Vietnam, Kicklighter served as Assistant Chief of Staff for the 101st Airborne Division from 1970 to 1971. In 1975-1976, not long before the 1979 hostage crisis, he served as a Logistics Management Staff Officer for the Office of Defense Representative in Tehran, Iran. The original director of the Department of Defense’s Vietnam War 50thanniversary commemoration, Georgia native Kicklighter will speak about the effort to honor veterans of that conflict.

The Veterans Day program will be held in the Atlanta History Center’s Veterans Park, which is dedicated to all of the men and women who have served - and continue to serve - the United States of America.  Funded by a generous grant from The Home Depot Foundation, Veterans Park was designed as a unique gathering place encouraging reflection, personal connections to veterans, and a celebration of the lives of those who have sacrificed to secure our freedom.  Veterans Park was dedicated in May 2013 with a “sacred soil” ceremony. This soil was collected from every site where our country fought for freedom and scattered upon Veterans Park ground by veterans. 

A cornerstone of Veterans Park, and perhaps the most touching personal connection to our country’s military history, are the stories and oral histories of veterans featured on a series of panels throughout the Park. Each panel features a QR code – compatible with any smartphone - allowing visitors to easily access video files of veterans sharing their personal stories, memories, tragedies and triumphs of their service to our country. The Atlanta History Center is proud to work in collaboration with veterans associations and national oral history projects such as the Library of Congress Veterans History Project and the Military Voices Initiative through StoryCorps at the Atlanta History Center.  Through these partnerships, and support of donations from the community, we are able to preserve oral history interviews with Georgia and regional veterans, ensuring their voices become powerful tools to educate future generations on our country’s military history.

For more information on participating in the Veterans History Project, email VeteransHistoryProject@AtlantaHistoryCenter.com.

This year, in collaboration with Atlanta non-profit Common Courtesy, www.ccrides.org, the Atlanta History Center is able to offer free rides to veterans to attend the November 11 commemoration. Common Courtesy has partnered with Uber to provide the Uber partner-drivers who will pick up and return up to three veterans per car to the History Center celebration. Veterans must register by November 6 with Common Courtesy by calling 678-809-2521, registering at www.ccrides.org  or going to RSVP@ccrides.org.

This Rides Serving Veterans Program (RSVP) is available through a generous donation by an Atlanta resident. Additional donations can be made through the same portals as above.

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