Service Set for Medal of Honor Recipient Who Died of COVID-19

President Barack Obama bestows the Medal of Honor on retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) – A Medal of Honor recipient from Opelika who died after contracting COVID-19 earlier this year will be laid to rest this week at Arlington National Cemetery.

Services for Bennie G. Adkins were announced by his private foundation. Adkins’ body will be escorted from an Opelika funeral home to the Atlanta airport by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Monday. He will be buried with full military honors on Wednesday at Arlington beside his late wife, who died last year. Adkins died in April at the age of 86 after falling ill with the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

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