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Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 30th Infantry, 3d
Infantry Division. Place and date: Near St. Die, France, 28 October 1944.
Entered service at: Port Arthur, Tex. Birth: Port Arthur, Tex. G.O. No.:
20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 28 October 1944, near
St. Die, France. When his company was stopped in its effort to drive through
the Mortagne Forest to reopen the supply line to the isolated third battalion,
S/Sgt. Adams braved the concentrated fire of machineguns in a lone assault
on a force of German troops. Although his company had progressed less than
10 yards and had lost 3 killed and 6 wounded, S/Sgt. Adams charged forward
dodging from tree to tree firing a borrowed BAR from the hip. Despite intense
machinegun fire which the enemy directed at him and rifle grenades which
struck the trees over his head showering him with broken twigs and branches,
S/Sgt. Adams made his way to within 10 yards of the closest machinegun
and killed the gunner with a hand grenade. An enemy soldier threw hand
grenades at him from a position only 10 yards distant; however, S/Sgt.
Adams dispatched him with a single burst of BAR fire. Charging into the
vortex of the enemy fire, he killed another machinegunner at 15 yards range
with a hand grenade and forced the surrender of 2 supporting infantrymen.
Although the remainder of the German group concentrated the full force
of its automatic weapons fire in a desperate effort to knock him out, he
proceeded through the woods to find and exterminate 5 more of the enemy.
Finally, when the third German machinegun opened up on him at a range of
20 yards, S/Sgt. Adams killed the gunner with BAR fire. In the course of
the action, he personally killed 9 Germans, eliminated 3 enemy machineguns,
vanquished a specialized force which was armed with automatic weapons and
grenade launchers, cleared the woods of hostile elements, and reopened
the severed supply lines to the assault companies of his battalion.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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