Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:51 | Seventeen year old Alex Adkins was about to sign up for the Army when he got a call from a Marine recruiter. Son, are you about to make the biggest mistake of your life?
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Desert Shield was kicking off when Alex Adkins reported to boot camp. His first unit was a reserve outfit that had been activated for the war and never deployed. But he was an active duty grunt so the Marines had another plan for him.
When Alex Adkins reported to 1st LAI, it was deserted. The unit had deployed to Desert Storm and when they did return, he instantly became an unworthy boot. The unit then combined with the DEA to search for drug traffickers in the California desert which made for some unusual interactions with the locals.
When Alex Adkins got to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, the first stop was Okinawa. There was a memorable incident involving a typhoon, a swimming pool and beer. His enlistment period was just about up when he extended to deploy to Somalia.
It was a unique operation in the history of the Marines. International UN forces had to be evacuated from Somalia and an amphibious landing was planned. Alex Adkins was part of the Marine component which was tasked with security. He was finally going to get to land on a beach like in the movies. Part 1 of 3.
After the Battle of Mogadishu had resulted in heavy Somali casualties, the rules of engagement were tightened for subsequent operations. Alex Adkins was part of an amphibious force that came to evacuate UN forces and he had this constant dilemma. Can I fire back now? How about now? Part 2 of 3.
The Marines were loaded up with less than lethal weapons. Alex Adkins figured that the president, the Joint Chiefs and the State Department were worried about a bloodbath when they landed in Somalia to evacuate UN forces under siege by warlords. Even the Cobras had flares instead of high explosives. Part 3 of 3.
On his way back from Mogadishu, Alex Adkins had the pleasure of a Tiger Cruise. This allows male relatives to sail with the Marines from Hawaii back to San Diego. His father joined him and got to fire many weapons from the fan tail. Where was all this ammo when I was in Mogadishu?
He was college bound. Alex Adkins had decided not to reenlist and instead entered Cape Fear Community College. He was doing well but had a nagging feeling he should return to service. He transferred to Texas A&M for law school but there was a problem. It wasn't a law school, it was a football school.
On his way to work, Alex Adkins heard a brief news story on the radio about a plane hitting one of the Twin Towers. He didn't think much about it but when he got to work, everyone was gathered around a television. It was the beginning of an era.
If you were still an active duty Marine, I wouldn't have started dating you. That what his wife told Alex Adkins but it was too late. They were married. He was a volunteer firefighter for a while, has a dual career in sales and as a pastor and he attends every unit reunion. She's down with that.
The Global War on Terrorism kind of upended the concept of the Marine Expeditionary Unit. Now, Marines were flying to war. For Alex Adkins, the problem with these wars is that were never clearly designed goals. This led to perpetual war and staggering human costs. That includes his closest friend who committed suicide decades after his service.
Through the Warrior Reunion Foundation, Alex Adkins was able to reconnect with his buddies and they have a reunion every year. On a hunting trip in Africa, he met South African vets who meet every month but their circumstance was a little different.
There was absolutely nothing PC about the Line Crossing Ceremony. Dating back centuries, the tradition of Wogs becoming Shellbacks is best left unspoken in polite company but Alex Adkins shares a bit about his rite of passage.
Cover me. That means something different to police officers than it does to grunts. That made for a lively time when some Marines were assigned to help police during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. Alex Adkins was off duty when his unit did that but he was there for Mogadishu. Some guys in his unit listened to techno but those guys were weird. Normal guys listened to Metallica.
