Medal of Honor Monday: Lucian Adams

He single-handedly cleared the enemy in 10 minutes.

On this day in 1944, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. SSgt. Lucian Adams didn’t plan to serve in the military. He’d expected to be a professional baseball player.

“About the last thing I was planning on,” he later laughed, “was becoming a soldier and certainly it never occurred to me to be a hero. I was drafted, and once I got in the Army, I decided it was a job and I would do the best I could.”

Either way, his strong throwing arm would prove useful in France during World War II, as a local Texas journalist later observed, because Adams could forcefully hurl grenades at enemy machine gun nests.

Adams’ heroism came near St. Die, France, as his company worked to reopen a supply line to two assault companies. That line had been cut off by the Germans.

“My outfit was called to make an attack,” Adams explained, “to liberate and to re-establish contact with two companies that had been cut off by the enemy.”

Unfortunately, our soldiers hadn’t gone more than 10 yards when they came under heavy fire. Three of our boys were killed and six were wounded.  The rest of the unit sought cover—except Adams.

SSgt. Adams charged forward,” his Medal citation describes, “dodging from tree to tree firing a borrowed BAR from the hip.” He was being showered with enemy fire, but his comrades could only watch what was happening.

“Sergeant Adams moved so fast and had such a head start on the rest of us,” 2d. Lt. Frank H. Harrell later said, “that he killed a great number of them before we could maneuver to shoot at the enemy without endangering him by our fire.”

The action that followed was over in only 10 minutes. Adams took out two machine gunners, plus six other infantry. He forced the surrender of two more. Just then, a third machine gunner opened fire.

For a brief second, Adams later said, the thought crossed his mind that “I’m a goner now.” The enemy gunner missed, though, so Adams promptly turned and shot him. It was enough. Adams had single-handedly cleared the woods and reopened the supply line as the rest of the enemy fled in retreat.

Adams later credited his mother’s prayers with keeping him safe.

Perhaps you won’t be surprised to hear that his men started calling him the “tornado from Texas” after his unbelievable 10-minute action?

“I can assure you it was not planned,” Adams smiled. “It was just a matter of a job that had to  be done. Someone had to do it or there was not going to be anyone to come out of there alive.”

Several months later, Adams would receive a Medal of Honor in an April 1945 ceremony at the Zeppelin Stadium where Hitler had famously made so many speeches. Americans covered up the stadium’s huge swastika with a huge American flag during the ceremony. Afterwards, they removed the flag and blew up the swastika.

“And it was a big thrill,” Adams said of that moment, “a big satisfaction. A poor little infantryman here being decorated in Hitler’s famous stadium.”

Nevertheless, he didn’t think he had done anything special. “I’m no hero,” he shrugged. “I’m just an ex-soldier.”

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