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FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: SFC John Adams ~ 12 October 2020
Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

Posted on 10/11/2020 5:06:37 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.

Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!

~ Hall of Heroes ~

SFC John Adams

Info from here.

ArmyPatch small   NavySeal small   Air Force Seal   Marines Seal small   Coast Guard Seal small (better)

Staff Sergeant Adams interdicted three Anti-Iraqi Forces, and his efforts resulted in the confiscation of numerous small arms and explosive ordinance...
"THE YOUNG OUTDOORSMAN"

It was fortunate for John Adams that Hillsboro, Illinois, had a lot of wide-open spaces. The woods and fields outside of town became his boyhood playground. Fishing, hunting, camping and playing with his friends kept him busy throughout the year, and the many nearby lakes provided cool fun in the summer.

So it was somewhat surprising that John wasn't more upset when his parents decided to move to Florida before he started high school. Sure, he was sad to leave his friends behind in Hillsboro, but he also was filled with positive anticipation.
I've never minded change, and I was always looking for some new adventure, some new excitement.

A TWIST OF FATE

John Adams attended Milton High School, near Pensacola. He quickly became a Florida State Seminoles fan and was determined to study Forestry there. But he was disappointed when the scholarships he had hoped for were not offered. Not wanting to assume a huge student loan debt, Adams considered the military. He could go to college and have a career. And there was always the aspect of adventure. Between his uncle Dennis, a Navy Recruiter who often talked to his nephew about his experiences, and the nearby Pensacola Naval Air Station, Adams was well versed in the opportunities of the Navy. But the Navy didn't seem like the appropriate fit. As a high school senior in 1994, Adams decided to join the Marines. He set up a meeting with a Marine Corps Recruiter. But on the day of his scheduled appointment, Adams waited alone outside the Marine Corps recruiting office. The Recruiter was a no-show.

As fate would have it, an Army recruiting off was next door to the Marine Corps recruiting center. An Army Recruiter watched the eager young Adams pacing outside. He then approached Adams and gave him his card. The Recruiter never pressured him. He told Adams to go and do some research on the Army and come back if he had any questions.
In the Army, there are two people you will always remember: one is your Recruiter and the other is your Drill Sergeant.


A week later, Adams was sitting in the Army Recruiter's office. Not yet 18 years old, he would have to get his parents' written consent to join the Army as part of the Delayed Entry Program. After taking the assessment tests, the Recruiter spoke to Adams at length about the different opportunities available to him in the Army. At one point he looked at the wide-eyed young Recruit and asked, "Would you like to carry your weapon into battle or would you like your weapon to carry you?" That's when Adams knew he wanted to be part of an Armored Division, with the potential to someday command his own tank.


THE FIRST STEP IN SERVICE

Adams was sent to Basic Combat Training (BCT) at Fort Knox, Kentucky. BCT was the toughest thing he had ever done, but he welcomed the physical and mental challenge. It wasn't long before he began training on an M1 Abrams Tank. He learned how to drive it, how to load the massive gun rounds and how to shoot. He would spend most of the next decade atop or inside one of these $3.5 million technological marvels.


"I'LL SEE THE WORLD"

Adams was sent to Schweinfurt, Germany, to join the 2nd Battalion of the 64th Armor Regiment in the 3rd Infantry Division. He loved the adventure of being overseas and training with his unit. On his time off he explored the German countryside. The next few years would take him back to the States for intensive tank training in Colorado, and to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he studied leadership and learned the value of teamwork. Proud of his gunnery skills, Adams and his tank crew registered several perfect scores during field training exercises. To Adams, there was nothing more exhilarating than firing the 120mm cannon from a 68-ton vehicle while it barreled over the range at 30 mph.
It was an overwhelming feeling to achieve several perfect scores with zero discrepancies. We were good!



TRAINED FOR PEACE, BUT READY FOR WAR

John Adams met his wife, Jodi, at a wedding in her Indiana hometown. John and Jodi married on July 15, 2000, and, shortly thereafter, Adams received orders to depart Fort Knox for Camp Casey, South Korea. He took his new bride with him on this next adventure. It was Jodi's first time on an airplane, but it certainly would not be her last. John trained in armor tactics in the rugged terrain of the Korean Peninsula, and then was selected to attend the Basic Noncommissioned Officers' Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. While in Kentucky, the Adams' welcomed their beautiful daughter, Emma to the Army family.

Upon graduation, SSG Adams received orders to Vilseck, Germany. He settled his family into the lovely German countryside and joined his unit in Kosovo for a two-month deployment as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission. After returning from the Balkans, John received word his unit was deploying to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They immediately began preparations. It was hard to leave his family, but Adams knew the mission was important and his team was well-equipped and well-prepared.
It was Valentine's Day, 2004. That's when I said goodbye to my girls. It was a tough day for all of us.



THEY LEAVE THE TANKS ALONE

In Iraq, Staff Sergeant Adams commanded his own tank. Adams' unit immediately began conducting wartime operations that included convoy escorts, search missions, main supply route overwatch and quick reaction force missions. There was always action and excitement, but as a Commander of an M1 Abrams, Adams sometimes saw it differently.
We would move into battle and oftentimes just sit there. Something happens to the enemy when they see the Abrams roll in. They just leave the tanks alone and run.


At other times, Adams conducted operations outside the formidable M1. His unit often conducted missions at night, patrolling supply routes in HMMWVs in an attempt to keep them clear of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and ambush points.


THE BURIED KILLER

Throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, insurgents bury IEDs on roadways and supply routes in an attempt to disrupt Coalition transportation and mobility. IEDs are the single greatest cause of casualties to Coalition forces.

IEDs can be made out of anything. A soda can, a water container, even a shoebox can be used to create explosives. Often the insurgent bomb makers used smuggled or stolen artillery ordinance. It's simple: bury the bomb in the road or near it (usually under the cover of darkness), attach a triggering device such as an alarm clock, and wait. The bombs can be detonated remotely with a cell phone. Staff Sergeant Adams and his men were constantly on the lookout for these deadly devices.


IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS CHANGING A TIRE

On the night of October 13, 2004, Staff Sergeant Adams was in the rear HMMWV of a four-vehicle patrol on Alternate Supply Route (ASR) Bismark, a well-traveled highway near the village of Salman Pak, 30 miles south of Baghdad. It was a moonless night with only a few lights in the distant village. It had been a quiet, routine evening. As the patrol was heading back to base, Adams received a radio transmission from his Platoon Leader in the lead HMMWV, alerting him to a civilian vehicle parked on the side of the road with an individual crouched near the rear of the vehicle. "Looks like he's got a flat tire or something," said the Platoon Leader. "Check him out." Up ahead, now visible in the headlights of Adams' HMMWV, was the vehicle.
I could see the guy on the passenger side of the vehicle. He was crouched or kneeling and wearing a white dishdasha, the traditional ankle-length robe. It looked like he was changing a tire.


Adams ordered his driver to stop about 30 meters behind the vehicle. As the HMMWV rolled to a stop, Staff Sergeant Adams jumped out, his M9 Pistol drawn.


ENGAGING WITH THE ENEMY

As a Tank Commander, Adams always carried a sidearm. Shortly after he arrived in Iraq he had put an attachment on the grip of his pistol that shone a red laser beam on the target when the grip was squeezed. In the course of combat operations he had used the laser grip a number of times. It was a successful non-lethal way of "getting people's attention." Adams recalls, "When they saw the red spot on them, or on someone near them, they would usually freeze." As Adams hit the ground running, he expected that the red laser beam would unnerve the man changing the tire. Adams would then do a quick check of the car and the patrol would be on its way.

"Do not move!" he yelled, as the man squinted into the headlights, and the red spot flickered on his head. That's when Staff Sergeant Adams saw muzzle flashes. Rounds whizzed and snapped past him. He realized he was running directly into automatic weapons fire. Two figures had popped up from the front of the vehicle with their weapons blazing. The crouching man jumped up just as Adams began squeezing off rounds from his M9 Pistol. Backing toward the cover of his vehicle, Adams emptied the pistol's magazine. The man by the car fell where he had been kneeling.

Bullets pinged off the HMMWV as Adams retrieved his M4 Rifle and began returning fire. Two insurgents, firing on the run, fled into the shadows of the adjacent field. Adams' driver dismounted and engaged the insurgents. Adams radioed his Platoon Leader just as a bullet penetrated the window a few inches from Adams' head. "Exchanging fire with enemy. One AIF [Anti-Iraqi Force] down!"
It happened so fast. I honestly don't know how we didn't get hit at such close range."


Adams slowly approached the downed insurgent, his M4 Rifle at the ready. What he discovered next was a sobering reminder of the enemy's lethal capabilities.


DAISY CHAIN

Within moments the rest of the patrol returned and began suppressing enemy in the field. A cease fire was given and Adams led an eight-man patrol to search for the two enemy insurgents. After returning, Adams' men began a search of the fallen enemy, the vehicle, and the surrounding area.

The headlights from the three other vehicles in the patrol illuminated what had previously been in the shadows. Next to the car was a shovel. The vehicle's tires were fine. Adams had interrupted the emplacement of an IED. In a shallow hole lay two 130mm artillery rounds. Small wires led to a digital clock next to the bomb. But Adams noticed another set of wires attached to the clock disappearing under the soil in the direction of his HMMWV. He carefully retraced his steps and made a disturbing discovery. About 15 meters apart were two additional, freshly covered IEDs-a potentially devastating "daisy chain" of six high explosives. Adams had probably run right over the mounds when he exited the vehicle. It was clear that the insurgents were moments away from covering up the last of the massive bombs and disappearing into the night.

Staff Sergeant Adams' actions prevented the Anti-Iraqi Forces from placing a complex-and potentially devastating-remote controlled chain of IEDs. Hidden in the shallow holes were one 155mm artillery round and two 130mm artillery rounds. Also recovered from the vehicle: an AK-47 with 10 full magazines, a PKC machine gun with two hundred rounds and seven hand grenades. Adams' personal courage and calm under fire had prevented catastrophic loss. For his heroic actions, Staff Sergeant Adams was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor.


TOUGHEST JOB

Staff Sergeant Adams relishes his experience in the U.S. Army. "It has given me everything: excitement, a chance to see the world and a good life for my family." Back home in the United States, Adams and his family have found their way back to his Midwestern roots. Adams realizes that after combat in Iraq, his Army career has come full circle. Having had his weapon carry him into battle, this Bronze Star recipient is now an Army Recruiter. Like the earnest Recruiter who approached him on that fateful day in 1993, Adams provides young men and women in Indiana the same straightforward and honest explanation of the benefits to an Army career.
 
This is by far the toughest but most satisfying time of my career in the Army. I'm challenged every day as a Recruiter to provide the strength and character that our Army needs. The Army has given me so much. This is my time to give back.

 

Watch an AWESOME video interview with SFC Adams at the source!

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

 


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Free Republic
KEYWORDS: canteen; heroes; military; troopsupport
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1 posted on 10/11/2020 5:06:37 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))


2 posted on 10/11/2020 5:09:42 PM PDT by left that other site (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9))
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Thanks for honoring tonight’s Hero, Kathy!


3 posted on 10/11/2020 5:10:55 PM PDT by PROCON (Molon Labe)
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To: Kathy in Alaska
~ Good Evening ~

Music-Notes~ Just Hanging ~

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Hai_Kathy-vi_zps57be83d2
~ Good Evening ~

funny picdump 491 640 40

airbus frontier 321
~ Welcome To My World ~

My_World

dancingfrog

No Friday

I’m Down There Somewhere

Frontier_Flights_All

4 posted on 10/11/2020 5:23:11 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list


October 12

Loving the Stranger

Bible in a Year:

Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Leviticus 19:34

When I moved to a new country, one of my first experiences left me feeling unwelcome. After finding a seat in the little church where my husband was preaching that day, a gruff older gentleman startled me when he said, “Move along down.” His wife apologized as she explained that I was sitting in the pew they always occupied. Years later I learned that congregations used to rent out pews, which raised money for the church and also ensured no one could take another person’s seat. Apparently some of that mentality carried on through the decades.

Later, I reflected on how God instructed the Israelites to welcome foreigners, in contrast to cultural practices such as I encountered. In setting out the laws that would allow His people to flourish, He reminded them to welcome foreigners because they themselves were once foreigners (Leviticus 19:34). Not only were they to treat strangers with kindness (v. 33), but they were also to “love them as [themselves]” (v. 34). God had rescued them from oppression in Egypt, giving them a home in a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:17). He expected His people to love others who also made their home there.

As you encounter strangers in your midst, ask God to reveal any cultural practices that might keep you from sharing His love with them.

By:  Amy Boucher Pye Reflect & Pray

Why is it so important that we welcome people into our homes and churches? What do you find most challenging and most rewarding in this?

Father God, You welcome me with open arms, for You love me day after day. Give me Your love to share with others. 


5 posted on 10/11/2020 5:34:06 PM PDT by The Mayor (I am outraged at your outrage toward the outrage!)
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To: left that other site

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...hope you and Blue enjoyed your day.

I just finally got back on FR. I hate Edge...it reboots whenever it feels like it. GRRRR....


6 posted on 10/11/2020 5:51:01 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: PROCON

Good evening, Pro...learning about another hero.


7 posted on 10/11/2020 5:57:36 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: Kathy in Alaska

It threatened rain today, so Penny and I hung out at home! :-)


8 posted on 10/11/2020 6:04:13 PM PDT by left that other site (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9))
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To: MoJo2001; 007; 1 FELLOW FREEPER; 11B3; 1FreeAmerican; 1stbn27; 2111USMC; 2LT Radix jr; 300winmag; ..

~ Hall of Heroes: SFC John Adams ~

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To every service man or woman reading this thread.
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No matter where you are stationed,
No matter what your job description
Know that we are are proud of each and everyone of you.

To our military readers, we remain steadfast
in keeping the Canteen doors open.

The FR Canteen is Free Republic's longest running daily thread
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The doors have been open since Oct 7 2001,
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We are indebted to you for your sacrifices for our Freedom.



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9 posted on 10/11/2020 6:07:58 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: SkyDancer

Good evening, Janey...((HUGS))...I like the idea of just hangin’. Enjoy your time.

Only thing happening here is colder days and nights, and more darkness.

Sunset tonight is 6:57p and sunrise will be 8:35a


10 posted on 10/11/2020 6:18:29 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: left that other site

Hanging out with Penny...bet she liked that.


11 posted on 10/11/2020 6:24:31 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Saluting you, SFC John Adams
What a hero!

12 posted on 10/11/2020 6:32:57 PM PDT by luvie (The bravery and dedication of our troops in keeping us safe & free make me proud to be an American!)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Hai! (((HUGS))) Ya, we’re watching the Hawks getting their respective behinds being whooped by the Vikings - serves them right for axing one of our favorite color commentator Dori Monson because of an innocent Tweet re: LGBTXBOUROREEE nonsene. The Curse is upon them.


13 posted on 10/11/2020 6:43:31 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Oh she DOES! And when we walk around the neighborhood, all her “boyfriends” give her cookies and turkey, and other treats just because.


14 posted on 10/11/2020 6:53:03 PM PDT by left that other site (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9))
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To: The Mayor; PROCON; mylife; mountainlion; Publius; Jet Jaguar; ConorMacNessa; ...

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!


15 posted on 10/11/2020 6:55:56 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: Kathy in Alaska; luvie; HiJinx; AZamericonnie; Jet Jaguar; beachn4fun; SandRat; laurenmarlowe; ...

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

THANK YOU
for your service!


16 posted on 10/11/2020 7:24:55 PM PDT by radu (God bless our military men and women, past and present)
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To: left that other site

She has QUITE the following!! She’s a lucky girl.


17 posted on 10/11/2020 8:08:30 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska ((~RIP Brian...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~))
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To: PROCON

Howdy, PRO.

Have you had a good weekend? Still cold and wet out there?

Comfy temps here and not as much rain as yesterday. The sun even peeked out for a few minutes.


18 posted on 10/11/2020 8:21:51 PM PDT by radu (God bless our military men and women, past and present)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Howdy, Kathy.

Are the trees in your yard bare yet? They looking pretty nekkid around Lake Hood these days.


19 posted on 10/11/2020 8:33:02 PM PDT by radu (God bless our military men and women, past and present)
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To: radu
Hey radu!

BOOM, we went from nice, warm weather on Friday to, "Hey, it's Fall and now it's cold and rainy!" the following day and the rest of the week looks about the same, although not so wet.

That's all I got, how you doing?

20 posted on 10/11/2020 8:33:22 PM PDT by PROCON (Molon Labe)
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