Adkinson, Joseph Bernard, Sgt

Deceased
 
 Photo In Uniform   Service Details
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Last Rank
Sergeant
Last Service Branch
Infantry
Last Primary MOS
521-Basic Soldier
Last MOS Group
Infantry Corps
Primary Unit
1918-1918, D Company, 1st Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment
Service Years
1917 - 1921

Sergeant


One Service Stripe



One Overseas Service Bar


 Last Photo   Personal Details 


Home State
Tennessee
Tennessee
Year of Birth
1892
 
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Contact Info
Home Town
Egypt
Date of Passing
May 23, 1965
 
Location of Interment
Salem Associate Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery - Salem, Tennessee
Wall/Plot Coordinates
Plot: Section B, Row 10, Lot 20A

 Official Badges 

Wound Chevron (1917-1932) Infantry Shoulder Cord French Fourragere World War I Honorable Discharge Chevron

World War I Victory Button (Wounded in Action)


 Unofficial Badges 




 Military Associations and Other Affiliations
Medal of Honor Recipients
  2018, Medal of Honor Recipients - Assoc. Page


 Additional Information
Last Known Activity:

Sgt Joseph Bernard Adkinson.  Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 119th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near Bellicourt, France, September 29, 1918. Entered service at: Memphis, Tenn. Born: January 4, 1892, Egypt, Tenn. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919.

Medal of Honor Citation: "When murderous machinegun fire at a range of 50 yards had made it impossible for his platoon to advance, and had caused the platoon to take cover Sergeant. Adkinson alone, with the greatest intrepidity, rushed across the 50 yards of open ground directly into the face of the hostile machinegun kicked the gun from the parapet into the enemy trench, and at the point of the bayonet captured the 3 men manning the gun. The gallantry and quick decision of this soldier enabled the platoon to resume its advance."

Adkinson was born in Egypt, Tennessee, and entered the army in 1917 in Memphis. By mid-1918, Adkinson and his division were involved in combat in France. On September 29, 1918, near Bellicourt, France, Adkinson, by then a Sergeant, found he and his platoon pinned down by heavy German machine gun fire located fifty yards to their front.

Adkinson, acting alone, charged the machine gun nest, kicked it over into the enemy trench, and using the bayonet fixed on his rifle captured the three man machine gun crew, allowing his platoon to advance forward. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1919, and was one of six soldiers from Tennessee to receive that medal for their service during the First World War. Another of the six was Alvin York, subject of the film Sergeant York starring actor Gary Cooper.

Adkinson died in 1965, and he is buried in is buried in Salem Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church in Atoka, Tennessee.

Find A Grave memorial:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22718


 

   
Other Comments:

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_B._Adkinson

   

 Ribbon Bar


 
 Unit Assignments/ Advancement Schools
1st Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment
  1918-1918, D Company, 1st Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment
 Combat and Non-Combat Operations
  1917-1918 World War I
  1918-1918 World War I/Aisne Campaign
  1918-1918 World War I/Somme Offensive Campaign
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