Jackson Sun -- A 22-year-old Army special forces soldier from Finger was among four people killed Sunday when a helicopter made an emergency landing in Iraq, his family said Monday.
Spc. Dustin Adkins was killed in Haditha, Iraq - located in Anbar province - when the Chinook helicopter went down in a lake, said Adkins' grandmother Mayrine Adkins, of Finger. A Department of Defense press release stated that Adkins was listed as missing following an emergency landing. But Mayrine Adkins said the family was notified about 3 p.m. Monday that his body had been found.
Mayrine Adkins said her grandson was one of two Army soldiers on the helicopter, along with several Marines.The Associated Press reported Monday that a helicopter that went down in a lake in Anbar province Sunday was carrying 16 Marines. Twelve passengers survived, and the bodies of three missing Marines - including Maj. Trane McCloud, 39, of Elizabethton - were found in a subsequent search, the military told the AP. Military officials said the helicopter had experienced mechanical problems and was not hit by gunfire.
Dustin Adkins, a father of two, joined the military three years ago, according to his family. He was assigned to the Group Support Battalion of the 5th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"He was in special forces," Mayrine Adkins said. "He was a dental assistant."
This was Adkins' second tour of duty in Iraq. He left in August and was scheduled to return home in seven months, or sometime around March, his grandmother said, but his tour had been extended.
Dustin's great-uncle Donnie Lynch said his nephew "was a really good kid.
"He never really got excited about anything," he said. "He had a calm nature about him, and he was good with kids" - even better with his own.
"He would fish with his kids sometimes, and was a computer nut," Mayrine Adkins said.
Dustin Adkins was married to Tiffany. They have two children - a boy, Matthew, 3, and a girl, Atlanta, 2. Adkins was the son of Richard Adkins and Karen Scudder, and had an older brother, Nicholas Adkins, and a sister, Crystal Webb.
"He was a real sweet person," his grandmother said. "He was always so concerned about helping me whenever he came to visit. He was always thinking of others."
Funeral arraignments are pending, awaiting the arrival of Adkins' body.
"The Army said his body will arrive in Maryland and then go to Memphis, then to Henderson," Mayrine Adkins said. Finger is located in northern McNairy County near the Chester County line.
I would like to say thank you to you and the other men who were killed in that crash for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Green Berets All The Way!"