Imagine yourself living in desolate terrain, surrounded by soupy mud, toxic water filled craters, and the rotting bodies of your friends covered in flies and filled with rats. This is the world our soldiers, along with millions of others, lived in throughout the span of the world's first global conflict, World War I. Of course, it is not just the murderous environment that you have to survive day in and day out, as you also stand opposite an enemy who was honed in on your position, waiting for you to show any body part above the trench walls. If you can begin to picture this, you may begin to understand the hell our World War I brothers faced in 1918 against the Central Powers. This is where we meet our next Medal of Honor recipient, Joseph B. Adkison, just outside of the French town of Bellicourt.

Sgt. Joseph B. Adkison was Born on January 4, 1892 in Egypt Tennessee. Not too much is recorded about the dear Sargent prior to his mad dash into history, but what is known is his devotion to his unit, C company of the 119th Infantry Regiment, and the men serving next to him. Under murderous machine gun fire, he and his platoon found themselves pinned down 50 yards from the enemy trench. On his own and without regard for his own life, Sgt. Akison charged the German machine gun, sprinting the 50 yards of open ground. Dodging the deadly machine gun fire imposed on him as he ran, Sgt. Akison reached the German position, kicking the machine gun from the enemy parapet down into the enemy trench, thus saving the lives of his brothers in arms as they advanced. What about the Germans in the trench, you may ask? Well, Sgt. Akison single handedly took the three man German machine gun crew prisoner at bayonet point as he waited for his men to advance up to his position! I mean, if that does not make your hair stand up and give you chills, I do not know what will!

Adkison was one of six soldiers from Tennessee to receive the United States Medal of Honor for meritorious acts of genuine gallantry and valor during the hell that was WWI. A conflict many are beginning to write off with mere lip service. Giving only lip service to a conflict of this magnitude and scope, discredits the gallantry and valor demonstrated and lived by soldiers like Joseph Adkison. It was this conflict that saw the birth of modern warfare and the sheer vastness that the human mind can suffer in the name of national interest. In the face of such suffering, a bond would be forged that only brothers in arms would truly understand. A bond that brings strangers to a point where they are closer than blood related family.

It is this motivation that drives men to conduct themselves in the manner that men like Adkison do. To forgo all instinctual motivations to preserve one's life and lay it down for those around you. Amidst the mud, decomposing bodies, blood, the relentless drum beat of artillery fire, the fear of dying in a ditch from dysentery and malnourishment, the lice and mice eating your flesh, and being held in these conditions for months or even years at a time, watching your friends perish around you for the glory of an aristocrat or monarch in some armchair somewhere. To stare down those conditions and fear, to not go mad, is an amazing feat in itself, but then add the acts of valor that were so common in this conflict. These men were truly the stuff of legends.

If you were facing the same situation, in the same environment, would you be able to face down such adversity to POTENTIALLY save the man to your left and right? There is no guarantee that your actions will have the story book outcome, but that is the courageousness about it, isn’t it? Some might ask why he would do something so reckless, but the answer lies in the times and the history books. Those men of Sgt. Adkison’s unit had to advance. There was no disobeying a direct order to try and push the enemy out of their position. As we continue to look at these great heroes, ask yourself, what would you have done in their position? A position of life and death for hundreds, if not thousands of men. A position that you could positively influence if you choose to act instead of hesitating for your own preservation of life. It is a question that may help you in your own life as we face our own hard times. Food for thought, I suppose.

Well guys, that is all I have for you for this week’s brave hero! We hope to see you again for the next Medal of Honor write-up! Hopefully, you are enjoying these as much as we are, as we continue to honor these greatest of American heroes! In the meantime, remember to train hard and stay frosty, my friends. 

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