[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21101-21102]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE ADKINS BROTHERS FOR ONE HUNDRED FOUR YEARS OF MILITARY 
                                SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 15, 2011

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, in southern West Virginia, ``family'' has a 
very special and sacred meaning. Its definition goes far beyond

[[Page 21102]]

the traditional; more than a group of individuals related by blood or 
marriage. It is an ideal that transcends all West Virginians; an 
institution protected, trusted and revered by all. It is the core 
thread woven into and throughout the fabric of the values we treasure 
most.
  Today, I rise to honor a family of West Virginians from the Logan 
County community of Pine Creek, in the coalfields of southern West 
Virginia. They are nine brothers, nine of the eleven sons of the late 
Olive and Oscar Adkins, who collectively served in our Nation's 
military for more than 100 years. This is truly a ``band of brothers'' 
for which our Nation owes a debt of gratitude.
  Shakespeare outlined the honor and drew distinction for the Band of 
Brothers in the famous St. Crispin's Day speech, a motivational speech 
delivered to troops about to enter battle in Act IV of the play, Henry 
V:

       Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember 
     with advantages what feats he did that day. Then shall our 
     names, familiar . . . as household words . . . be in their 
     flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
       This story shall the good man teach his son . . . from this 
     day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be 
     remembered--we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he 
     today that sheds his blood with me; shall be my brother . . .

  Fate was kind to the nine Adkins brothers. None were seriously 
injured, and all returned home safely, although many who served with 
them were not so lucky. All the Adkins brothers were honorably 
discharged, and all were proud to serve their country. The pride in 
this remarkable record of military service is shared by their parents, 
two other brothers, Hobart and Robert, and four sisters, Madeline, 
Ruth, Lyndell, and Iris.
  The nine who served include Harvey, who was in the U.S. Army during 
World War II from 1943 to 1946; Jason, who was in the U.S. Army at the 
end of World War II in 1945 and 1946, then again from 1952 to 1955 
during the Korean Conflict; Leon, who served in the Air Force from 1948 
to 1952 in the Korean Conflict; Billy, who served in both the Army and 
Air Force from 1948 to 1954; Lowell, who served in the U.S. Air Force 
from 1954 to 1974 in both Thailand and Vietnam; Franklin, who served in 
both U.S. Air Force and Army from 1956 to 1976; Vernon, who joined the 
Army and served from 1958 to 1979; Linden, who served in the Army from 
1965 to 1967; and Clifton, who served in the Army from 1959 to 1981.
  Selfless service and sacrifice are the twin pillars supporting our 
Republic. Surely, these values, so important to the future vigor of our 
democratic principles, were instilled in the Adkins Brothers by devoted 
and dedicated parents. Such a record of service is not happenstance or 
coincidence; rather, it is a record built with an abiding faith in the 
Almighty's continued blessings on this land of liberty.
  Mr. Speaker, in sum, the Adkins brothers share 104 years of U.S. 
military service, a milestone record of service, that I hope the U.S. 
Department of Defense will soon formally recognize. I ask my colleagues 
to join me in acknowledging my fellow West Virginians as true American 
patriots and to thank them for their distinguished service to our great 
Nation.

                          ____________________