The Battle of A Shau Part II: CSM Bennie G. Adkins

Hi, I’m Ken Harbaugh, host of the Medal of Honor podcast.

This week you’ll hear the finale of the harrowing story of the Battle of A Shau and the brave souls who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions there. Make sure to go back and listen to part one if you haven’t already.

Thanks so much for listening and enjoy the show.

Around noon on the second day of the Battle of A Shau, the defenders of the camp sent out a radio transmission to higher headquarters. It said “Need reinforcements, without them kiss us goodbye”. HQ had continued attempting resupply drops, but as they said in other transmissions, allied forces weren’t able to reach them without more ground troops. To add insult to injury, the camp defenders had been told three weeks prior that if they were able to hold off an attack for 24 hours, HQ would have enough time to send a whole battalion of marines. It was almost 36 hours in and there was still no word about ground reinforcements. Not long after, a resupply drop landed just 65 feet from an allied bunker, but it was shot to pieces before anything could be recovered. At 12:45pm HQ sent a message saying “Green Berets, by God we’re trying”.

By 2, enemies had completely swarmed the camp, and the camp’s defenders had exhausted almost all of their ammo. Despite numerous failed attempts that morning, Adkins and three other Green Berets decided to attempt a counter attack to push them back towards the south wall. They knew they wouldn’t be evacuated that night, but if they could reestablish a perimeter, they might have enough room for an airdrop in the morning.

As their CIDG and LLBD allies huddled in the north wall trench, Adkins and the other three Americans left the commo bunker in the direction of Adkins’ old mortar position. Armed with M-16s and handgrenades, they attempted to push back the enemy, but they were unable to gain any ground against the overwhelming enemy force. Adkins thought they may have been successful if they had received help from their indigenous allies, but the soldiers in the north trench weren’t keen on leaving what little safety they had.

After the unsuccessful counterattack, the camp defenders only held the north trench and the commo bunker. An airstrike was called in to hit everything except those two areas, but it did little to impact the actual battle lines.

Later in the afternoon, a battalion-sized group of NVA soldiers were spotted forming outside of the camp, clearly preparing for an assault. The camp defenders immediately called for an airstrike, and two B-57 bombers were sent their way. The bombers each made one low-altitude run, both successfully dropping an anti-personnel bomb. These almost completely wiped out the amassing enemy, and saved their allies from another devastating attack.

Following these airstrikes, all the remaining defenders regrouped at the commo bunker and north wall. As they continued to withstand heavy explosions, they redistributed ammo, treated wounds, and attempted to reestablish order within the ranks. Half the garrison was dead or severely wounded, and everyone else was at least somewhat wounded, so the chain of command had been decimated. Once ammo was redistributed, each soldier had only 20 rounds, and everyone left had to share 12 grenades total. Hundreds of bodies littered the camp, and morale was low. The American commander eventually caught wind of a discussion between LLDB and CIDG soldiers about surrender, but he shut that idea down. Despite the odds, he didn’t want to quit.

At 3 pm, HQ ordered the defenders to cede their ground and retreat out of the back of the camp. Evac helicopters were on their way, and the only safe landing point was a few hundred yards north of the camp. The American Special Forces commander was initially upset at this decision, but he later agreed it was the right call.

The defenders hastily began gathering classified documents and equipment that could be useful to the NVA if they were recovered. They piled it all up in the commo bunker, and with five incendiary grenades, sent it all up in a ball of fire.

At 5:20pm, about 17 Marine Corps helicopters arrived at Camp A Shau. They were members of the “Ridge Runners”, a helicopter squadron that became famous in Vietnam for their many rescues during the war. In a scene that reminded Adkins of Macbeth, the helicopters and Huey gunships descended through the clouds, acting as a saving grace after almost two full days of grueling combat. That moment of relief was quickly snuffed out. The enemy unleashed recoilless rifle, machine gun, and small arms fire on the Ridge Runners, hitting several aircraft and causing two to crash. The fire was so intense that only half of the helicopters were able to land, and the other half were waved off. This caused chaos on the ground. The initial plan was to have two Green Berets and a squad of Nungs to Lead the way to the LZ so they could organize the evac. They’d be followed by all the indigenous soldiers, and the rear would be covered by the rest of the Green Berets. When they saw half the helicopters leave, the CIDG & LLDB soldiers completely abandoned the plan. Dropping their weapons and even injured comrades, they mobbed remaining aircraft, ignoring the need to prioritize the wounded. Captain Dung, the LLDB commander, was seen amongst the swarm. One Green Beret was prepared to kill Dung for this abandonment, but he never had a clear shot.

As room on the helicopters dwindled, the panicked Montagnard soldiers became more and more desperate, pushing and shoving their way onto over crowded aircrafts. In order to get off the ground, the Marine Squadron Commander ordered his men to kick or even shoot excess soldiers if they refused to disembark, and he was later almost court-martialed for this. The commander’s plane was the first off the ground, but it only rose 10 feet before being shot down.

Meanwhile, the rear guard was assaulted by the NVA. They defended the retreat and held the north wall against vicious enemy attacks until everyone was out. Then, they leapfrogged out of the camp, progressively retreating and gathering any injured soldiers who were left behind. It was at this time that Adkins learned that Sergeant Jimmy Taylor, a fellow Green Beret, was still inside the camp. Accompanied by one other American, Adkins made his way back inside.

As they traveled along a trench towards their ally’ position, an enemy NVA soldier jumped right in front of Adkins. The enemy already had his gun drawn, and Adkins’ weapon was still in his sling. Adkins whipped up his gun and fired as fast as he could, but not as fast as the enemy. Luckily for Adkins, the enemy bullet hit his magazine and not him, causing a few rounds to go off prematurely within the mag. As a result, the bullet Adkins had was the one in the chamber. When he fired, it went right through the enemy’s eye. The enemy wasn’t killed, but was put in such a state of shock that he dropped his weapon and ran. Adkins decided not to pursue him.

Adkins and his ally found Taylor and began fighting their way out of the camp again- this time with the added difficulty of having to carry someone on a stretcher. Additionally, much of the grenade and gunfire they came under was actually from their allies, who were accidentally wounding each other in the chaos of the moment.

When they finally made their way out of the camp, all the helicopters had left. 70 men had been successfully evacuated, but more than 100 other soldiers were still left behind, fragmented and separated into different groups. Morale was at an all-time low. Everyone was thirsty and exhausted, and the remaining CIDG soldiers were not faring well. A few were seen laying in fetal positions and wailing. Others took shelter in one of the downed helicopters, and in order to get them moving, the Americans hit and man-handled them. Without guarantee that air evac would come, their only option was to travel deeper into the jungle, beginning what could become a several-day journey to the Thai border.

The jungle in A Shau was dense. The foliage above was so thick that during the night, the camp’s survivors could almost see nothing. They maneuvered blindly through the jungle, listening intently to the chatter of animals and NVA voices in close pursuit. They stopped only when they had to, and quietly evaded the enemy all night. Thankfully for some, help would soon be on the way.

The next morning, a small group of survivors used a signal mirror and a smoke grenade to grab the attention of an American aircraft flying overhead. Then, using a radio to contact it, they were able to request evacuation. Soon two helicopters arrived at their location, and dropped their strings. The small group was successfully rescued.

Adkins wasn’t so lucky. After he had exited the camp, he and some other soldiers fled the jungle in search of higher ground away from the fighting. Adkins continued to carry his wounded ally, but Taylor eventually succumbed to his wounds. Adkins and the rest of the group were forced to leave the body behind, and despite saving the coordinates of its location, Taylor’s body was never recovered.

After spending the night in the jungle, Adkins took a small FM radio and waded into a stream. The radio was so damaged that you could barely talk to someone across the room with it, but he was convinced he could get it working. Since the radio had its antenna broken off, Adkins put his sawed-off shotgun barrel-first onto the top of the radio. With his feet grounded into the water below, he was miraculously able to communicate with a fixed wing aircraft overhead. Adkin and his allies quickly cut a landing pad, and two helicopters were sent to pick them up.

Unfortunately, nearby NVA soldiers were tracking Adkins’ group, and heard the first helicopter come in. As it attempted to land, they shot it down, and two of its four crewmembers were injured. The second helicopter hovered and dropped its strings, allowing both wounded crewmembers to be lifted to safety, but that’s all the room they had on board. The second helicopter flew off, leaving the two remaining crewmembers with Adkins and his allies. They soon got in a short skirmish with the enemies who shot down the helicopter, and one ally was killed. Afterwards, the group grabbed rations and a machine gun off the downed helicopter and hastily retreated.

The NVA was hot on their heels. Moving further into the jungle, Adkins’ group stopped only to exchange fire with the enemy about every 45 minutes. By nightfall, they had found some high ground and camped out, waiting for a potential extraction. They could tell the NVA was close, but no one could locate them in the pitch black. Allowed only the occasional whisper, Adkins and his group remained still as their enemies slowly surrounded them. Then, a low growl rumbled through the brush, and suddenly two piercing eyes appeared in Adkins’ view. It was a tiger, drawn to the blood of the wounded. Since the start of the war, tigers had begun eating corpses of dead soldiers, and would sometimes pounce on the living if they were brave enough. Adkins and his allies were stuck. If they tried to shoot or scare the beast away, they’d alert the NVA of their position, but if they did nothing, they risked falling victim to a tiger attack. Seeing the predator, the NVA chose to back off and pause their chase. For whatever reason, the tiger also backed off without attacking anyone. Adkins and his allies had avoided catastrophe.

The camp survivors continued eluding capture until 9:30 am the next morning. By this time the weather had cleared, and they were spotted by a friendly helicopter overhead. With the NVA still on their tail, they rushed to clear a landing pad, creating space for the aircraft to drop strings. Adkins and all of his allies were able to board in the just nick of time, and the helicopter flew away right as the enemy began opening fire.

At the start of the battle, Camp A Shau was defended by less than 450 soldiers. 200 of those men were killed in action, and another 100 of them were wounded. The enemy however suffered a much worse fate. Although official counts vary, anywhere from 800 to 1,200 of the 2,000 initial NVA soldiers were killed. Pilots who flew over the area after the battle say they saw a “wall of bodies” within the camp.

Adkins is credited with killing 175 enemies while sustaining 18 different wounds. He was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroics. Several rumors circulated around why he didn’t receive the Medal of Honor, some of which cited nefarious intent, but to this day the answer isn’t clear.

Decades later, one of Adkins’ old captains spent his retirement gathering research in order to help Adkins get the recognition he deserved. Unfortunately that captain passed away before he could submit it, so his wife handed the materials to two Green Berets who served with Adkins at A Shau. Together, they worked on the submission for over 6 ½ years. However, since it was over 50 years since the battle, it was too late to submit it. Eventually, congress removed the restrictions barring Adkins submission, and it was accepted.

Adkins was completely unaware of this work being done on his behalf, and only learned when he received a call from the President, letting him know that his DSC would be upgraded. On September 15th, 2014, Command Sergeant Major Bennie G. Adkins was finally awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of A Shau.

The Medal of Honor podcast is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.

Nathan Corson is our executive producer and mixing engineer, Declan Rohrs is our associate producer, scriptwriter, and recording engineer, and I’m Ken Harbaugh.

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