Dustin M. Adkins killed in helicopter crash

HENDERSON - Tiffany Adkins watched her two children, 3-year-old Matthew and 2-year-old Atlanta, scamper around her grandmother's family room Wednesday afternoon, and had to smile.

"They're my two miracles. I wasn't supposed to be able to have children, and Dustin and I had two," said Adkins, trying not to think about the conversations, and tears, that will no doubt pop up in the months to come as she talks to her children about their father.

Sgt. Dustin Adkins, a 22-year-old native of Finger, was one of four American servicemen killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in western Anbar province in Iraq.

Tiffany and Dustin had only three years together as husband and wife. But she'll hold on gratefully to the two little miracles her husband leaves behind - when she can keep them in arm's reach.
"Dustin was crazy about his kids," she said. "Atlanta's just like me, and Matthew's just like him. Dustin would take them to the park, wrestle with them, love them. His daughter had him wrapped around her finger from the moment she was born. He wanted a little girl so bad."

He didn't even mind it when his wife, a rabid Braves fan, named their daughter Atlanta.

"He loves baseball too, but he was a Red Sox fan," she said. "We worked through it."

The family had rushed up from Chester County to Fort Campbell, Ky., to rally around Tiffany and her children as they awaited word on her husband. The "family" from Fort Campbell had already put its arms around the Adkins clan.

"Everybody's been great," Tiffany said.

After the terrible news, they migrated back home to await the military funeral that will come after his body arrives back from Germany in the next seven to 10 days.

"He kept telling me on the phone not to worry about him, everything would be OK," said Tiffany. "He never worried about anything. Very laid-back all the time. Always calm."

It was the second tour of duty for Dustin Adkins, a dental assistant with the unit, deployed in August with the Army's 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

"In Special Forces, you're a soldier first and your other specialty second," Tiffany said. "The first tour, Dustin said he mostly worked on teeth. This time around, there had been more (action)."

Adkins enlisted in the Army in 2003, shortly after Matthew was born and he and Tiffany were married.

"He wanted a better life for his family," she said. "But he loved the Army. He wanted to go to Officer Training School, and make this a career. Loved the training. Loved the job. Loved the unit around him."

Adkins especially loved parachuting from airplanes.

"He kept telling me he was going to get me up there. I told him 'No way!' " she said, smiling again.

Adkins said she talked to the Army dentist who was on the chopper with her husband, and survived the crash.

"He's pretty broken up about it. Said that something (mechanical) happened to the helicopter," she said. "This was his first tour of Iraq, and he told me that Dustin had helped him a lot in terms of getting used to the routine and the surroundings."

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Former teachers and co-workers described Adkins as a pretty average, likeable young man who was focused on his future.

"He's in that huge bubble in the middle of any school population," said teacher Stan Holland of Chester County High School. Adkins attended CCHS three years, then finished up by home schooling through Gateway Christian.

"He isn't Top 10, and he wasn't a discipline problem," Holland said. "He's a likeable kid who's there every day, does his work and is good to be around."

Celia Hunt, who taught a careers class to Adkins, said "he knew what he wanted to do after high school. He was very clear, very focused."

She said that he came back in uniform to visit her, "and I know it made an impression on the kids there. It lets them know there's more that's going on outside."

She added she was still shaken when she passed the hall Wednesday and saw a newspaper clipping telling of Adkins' death.

"It brings it home," she said. "Brings it right here."

Along with his focus, she added, "he was very mature for someone his age. I think that's why he did what he did his final year. He was ready to move on to that next phase (of his life)."

During high school, he worked at the nearby Sonic Drive-In, where he met his bride-to-be.

"He was someone always on time, always did his job and always good to be around. The kind of kid you want working for you," said manager Brian Dieckmeyer.

Tiffany, who is older than Dustin, was a manager at the restaurant. It wasn't long before he was looking to take her out, and for a long time she said no.

"It seemed crazy, really crazy," said Summer Cupples, who started at Sonic just after Adkins, and is now an assistant manager. "But not to him."

"He pestered me for a long time. I told him that made no sense," Tiffany said. "But I told him if he felt the same way when he came of age (18), we'd go out."

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The Adkins family is more than used to spit, polish and military life.

Adkins' father, Richard, his older brother Nick, and brother-in-law Jason Webb are all staff sergeants in the Tennessee National Guard.

"Military is the way of life for this family. We've got aunts and uncles in the service, too," said Crystal Webb, Adkins' older sister. "It's just the way it is."

Webb sat in her home in Henderson, surrounded by three of four children, including 3-year-old daughter Scarlett, who has the same fire-engine red hair as Dustin.

"I'd keep joking with him 'How is it that I'm the one with the redhead (child), and not you," Webb said, smiling at the thought and that genetic connection.

She sat at a kitchen table filled with photos of her brothers, and the Christmas card she had just received from Dustin.

"All the family got cards last week," Webb said. "My birthday was Nov. 30, and he called me. It was the last time I talked to him."

She talked of her brother matter-of-factly, and with humor. But when asked if a military family might be better equipped to handle death, she said quickly, "You know the risks, but you're never ready for something like this. How can you be ready for that call?"

Webb said the Army is still investigating the crash, giving out few details of the incident or why Adkins was on the chopper.

"We know he died a hero," she said.

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