Medal of Honor recipient, family members go to Capitol

Medal of Honor recipient Bennie G. Adkins and the siblings of Medal of Honor of recipient Donald P. Sloat attended a White House ceremony on Monday and a Pentagon ceremony on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they were on Capitol Hill, meeting congressional leaders.

President Barack Obama awarded the medals on Monday.

Adkins and Sloat hailed from small Oklahoma towns _ Adkins from Waurika and Sloat from Coweta. Each was recognized for uncommon valor in Vietnam. Sloat died in 1970 after smothering a grenade to protect his fellow unit members. Adkins fought enemy soldiers for four days, protecting a number of his fellow Special Forces members and enabling some to evacuate while staying behind to fight.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, of Tulsa, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, met Adkins and his wife, Mary, at the Capitol on Wednesday and Karen McCaslin, of Hectorville, OK, and Bill Sloat, of Enid, OK, siblings of Sloat.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, left, posed on a Capitol balcony with Medal of Honor recipient Bennie G. Adkins and Adkins’ wife, Mary. Sen. Jim Inhofe, center, talks to Bill Sloat, of Enid, and Karen McCaslin, of Hectorville, siblings of Medal of Honor recipient Donald P. Sloat. Sen. Jim Inhofe, right, meets Medal of Honor recipient Bennie G. Adkins and Bill Sloat and Karen McCaslin, the siblings of Medal of Honor recipient Donald P. Sloat.