On this day in 1945, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Perhaps Thomas Eugene “Gene” Atkins was an unlikely hero? The young soldier had grown up in a two-room shack, the child of sharecroppers.
As a young boy, he’d even had to drop out of school to help his family with the farm, but his days of cotton picking had a silver lining: He met the daughter of a neighboring sharecropper, who was also picking cotton. By the time he joined the Army and went to war, Vivian was more than just a friend.
She promised to wait for him.
Atkins’s heroism came on the night of March 9-10, 1945, as the 32d Infantry Division worked its way up the difficult Villa Verde Trail in the mountains of Luzon, in the Philippines. As night fell, Pfc. Atkins and two other soldiers were holding a position on a ridge, just outside their platoon’s perimeter defense.
Trouble came at about 3:00 in the morning: The enemy launched a massive attack, which included “rifle and machine-gun fire, grenades, TNT charges and land mines,” according to Atkins’s Medal citation. The two soldiers with Atkins were killed. Atkins himself was left with a shattered hip and serious wounds in his leg and back.
Naturally, Atkins had no intention of returning to the American lines for treatment. Not only did he hold his ground, but he single-handedly held off the enemy for four long hours.
“One lone American soldier,” a local newspaper would later describe, “lying behind a log through a long night, firing when he could see a target, holding off two companies of [Japanese].”
A lull in the fighting at about 7:00 a.m. proved fortunate for Atkins. All his rifles had jammed, and he was out of ammunition. He finally returned to the American lines, with the intent of grabbing more. He must have been quite a sight when he arrived, though, because he was convinced to stay and receive treatment.
Just then, an enemy soldier emerged within the defense perimeter. Atkins whirled, taking him out instantly.
But he wasn’t done, as his Medal citation describes. “A few minutes later, while lying on a litter, he discovered an enemy group moving up behind the platoon’s lines. Despite his severe wounds he sat up, delivered heavy rifle fire against the group, and forced them to withdraw.”
Atkins is credited with enabling his platoon to hold their position that day.
He would receive a Medal for his actions, but Atkins’s story doesn’t end there. He returned home, married Vivian, and took her on a honeymoon to his Medal ceremony. He intended to return to sharecropping afterwards, but his hometown had other ideas.
A local doctor had heard about Atkins’s financial situation, so he wrote a local paper, enclosing a check for $100. “Use this to start a fund to buy a farm for Gene Atkins,” the doctor wrote.
The paper’s editor matched the $100 and invited others to join him. Wouldn’t you know that donations started to roll in? Schoolchildren even sent in carefully saved nickels and dimes. When all was said and done, enough money had been raised to build Atkins and his new bride a “Thank you farm” with 62 acres and a 5-room house. They also received a mule, farm implements, and furniture.
The young couple was grateful—and stunned. “Many others have [fought] and died,” Atkins said at the time, “suffered and bled for the same things I did. I don’t feel I deserve all this, but with God’s help, I’m gonna do the best I can.”
But his community was more than happy to help. “It is men like you, Pfc. Atkins,” the ladies from one local church wrote, “that makes this America of ours the wonderful place it is.”
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Primary Sources:
$7000 and Bride Waiting to Welcome Medal of Honor Hero to N. Carolina Home (Times Herald; Oct. 15, 1945) (p. 3)
Bernard Brenner, “Thank You Farm” (Neosho Daily News; Nov. 15, 1945) (p. 7)
Jane Noland, Neighbors Give Farm to Hero of Luzon Fight (Times Herald; Nov. 15, 1945) (p. 3)
Medal of Honor citation (Thomas Eugene “Gene” Atkins; WWII)
Richard Goldstein, Red Arrow Hero of Philippines, Atkins, Dies at 78 (Wisconsin State Journal; Sept. 23, 1999) (p. 3)
SOUTH CAROLINA: Home for a Hero (TIME Mag., Nov. 12, 1945)
Thomas Atkins Receives Medal from President (Gaffney Ledger; Oct. 16, 1945) (p. 5)
Wounded Carolinian Kept up a Blistering Fire, and Won (Greenville News; March 25, 1963) (p. 9)