If you knew or served with this Soldier and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Barnesville, OH
Last Address Barnesville, OH
MIA Date Feb 02, 1968
Cause Non Hostile- Died while Missing
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Quang Nam (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Memorial Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Staff Sergeant Adkins had been living in Barnesville, OH when he entered the service and was a member of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On February 2, 1968, he was a passenger in a Bell Iroquois Utility Helicopter (UH-1H) on an administrative trip from Chu Lai to Da Nang, South Vietnam. Contact was lost when the aircraft was 12 miles north of Da Nang. His remains were never recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
Staff Sgt. Adkins was listed as a MIA for several years by the DoD. This MIA case was brought before the Senate Select Committee in 1992, but no action was taken, although no body has been recovered, of SSgt Adkins and the other 5 crew members or passengers in this helicopter. The helicopter was found "burning" two months later, but no bodies, or bones, were recovered, however the tail rotor showed that this was indeed SSgt Adkins helicopter. SSgt Adkins had a horse, who remained alive, for 24 years. He died soon after the Senate Select Committee could find "no reasonable proof" to reopen this MIA case. On behalf of SSgt Adkins' Family, who have never given up hope,
Other Comments:
FINAL MISSION OF U.S. ARMY HELICOPTER UH-1D TAIL NUMBER 66-16442
LTC Donald D. Burnham was the pilot of a UH-1H helicopter (#66-16442) that departed Camp Evans, Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam for Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam on February 2, 1968. Also aboard were passengers SP4 Charles L. Adkins, SFC Joe H. Pringle, SSGT Joseph D. Puggi, and crew chief SP4 Kenneth J. Patton. During a ground radar controlled approach to Da Nang Airbase, the controller lost radio contact with the helicopter and subsequently lost radar contact. The last positive position of the aircraft was 12 miles north of Da Nang. After attempts to contact Captain Burnham by radio failed, ramp checks were conducted by another pilot from his unit. Search of the area to the north of Da Nang failed to locate the missing aircraft. On May 28, 1968, a crashed and burned UH-1H helicopter (tail #6442) was located in the appropriate vicinity and a search party recovered an ID tag belonging to SFC Pringle, several weapons, and some human bones. The ID tag and weapons were given to an unidentified major; subsequent attempts to trace the weapons have been unsuccessful. All human remains were given to the U.S. Army Mortuary at Da Nang, and subsequently determined unidentifiable. Search attempts terminated on 16 November 1972. Because of the density of the underbrush, no further remains were recovered. The crash site was photographed in July 1974, at which time it became known that parts of the aircraft had been recovered by a Vietnamese woodcutter. No evidence of human remains was found in the area. Donald Burnham's photograph was identified by a Vietnamese rallier as having been a prisoner of war. CIA analysis failed to determine why Burnham's photo was selected, as neither he nor the other crew was seen by returned POWs. [Taken from vhpa.org]
Description This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.
