Sergeant First Class Adkins was a member of the 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy along the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea on 1 December 1950.

Adkins was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.