Brian Jones: “it is with sadness and humility that I ask this body to pause for a moment to remember and honor a great American and a…”

“it is with sadness and humility that I ask this body to pause for a moment to remember and honor a great American and a citizen of my home State, CSM Bennie G. Adkins, who died of complications related to the COVID-19 virus on April 17, 2020. He was laid to rest with full military honors this morning after a funeral service in the chapel at Arlington National Cemetery. Command Sergeant Major Adkins, known to friends and family as ``Bennie,'' received the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on September 15, 2014, for acts of heroism during the Vietnam war. Although Bennie was recommended for the Medal of Honor at the time, he was instead given the next highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross. In 2002, the Army began reviewing Distinguished Service Cross awards for possible upgrades, and finally, 48 years later, President Obama bestowed a well-deserved Medal of Honor upon Bennie Adkins. As we know, the Medal of Honor is the Nation's highest medal for valor in combat. According to a statute passed in 1918, the President is authorized to present this award to ``each person who, while an officer or enlisted man of the Army, shall hereafter, in action involving actual conflict with an enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.'' Other legislation authorizes the award within the other military departments as well.…”