The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant John L. Adkinson, Jr. (MCSN: 0-84401), United States Marine Corps, for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight while serving as an Attack Pilot with Marine Attack Squadron TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-FOUR (VMA-224), Marine Aircraft Group Twelve, in action against insurgent communist (Viet Cong) forces in the Republic of Vietnam. On 9 January 1966, First Lieutenant Adkinson exhibited extraordinary skill as an aviator and section leader during a strike against a Viet Cong concentration of antiaircraft gun emplacements. Fully realizing that previous flights over the assigned targets had met intense and accurate enemy fire, First Lieutenant Adkinson joined the attack with superior precision, maneuvering his aircraft with cunning and skill to avoid the heavy flak. Although nearing a minimum fuel state and aware that his prone aircraft was highly vulnerable to the enemy fire, First Lieutenant Adkinson requested permission to make a final run to deliver his two remaining bombs on the target. With tracers streaming and flak burst trailing his aircraft, First Lieutenant Adkinson daringly dove through the enemy defenses to score a direct hit on the enemy site, completely destroying two antiaircraft guns. First Lieutenant Adkinson’s intrepid aeronautical skill and unfaltering dedication to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.