Dennis Adkins

Dennis Floyd Adkins (May 18, 1933 – June 19, 1953) was a U.S. Marine from Scott County killed stateside in a car accident during the Korean War.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born May 18, 1933, Dennis F. Adkins was the son of Sherman Adkins (1908-1993) and Bertha Lawson (1914-1970).

Among his siblings were Florence Woodward (1929-2021), Iva Lee Fraley (1931-2010), Bertie Mae Phillips (1935-2000), Joan Ealy (1939-2020), Barbara Jean Jones (1940-2004), Glad Adkins (1942-1980), Paul David Adkins (1945-2024), Dwain Todd Adkins (1947-2012) and Phillip Ray Adkins (1950-2022). Dwain Adkins was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Paul was also a military veteran.

The Adkins family has deep roots in eastern Scott County. Dennis’s great-grandfather was Sterling Adkins, the Baptist preacher who founded Smokey Creek Baptist Church and Upper Jellico Creek United Baptist Church. His third-great-grandfather on his father’s side was Mikel Low, believed to be the first settler of Scott County.

Korean War

PFC Adkins enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was assigned to the Marine Barracks, Naval Aviation Detachment, at Hastings, Neb.

Although he died during the Korean War, PFC Adkins did not fight in the war. He was killed in a car accident in Hastings, Neb. on June 19, 1953, when a 17-year-old driver in a semi truck slammed into the back of the car he was driving, pushing it 166 feet and causing it to roll several times before it came to rest with the truck on top of it. Also killed in the crash was Delores M. Classen, 19, who was a passenger in the car PFC Adkins was driving.

PFC Adkins was buried at Reed Cemetery at New River. He is listed on the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville.