R.I.P. Staff Sgt. Adam L. Perkins

Marine Staff Sgt. Adam L. Perkins
Died May 17, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

27, of Antelope, Calif.; assigned to 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died May 17 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(The following was taken from www.modbee.com of May 23, 2010) Staff Sgt. and bomb technician Adam Perkins knew that his job could lead to his death, so before the Marines redeployed him to Afghanistan last month, Perkins made sure his 9-month-old son would remember him.

"He videotaped himself reading a bunch of books to his son," his mom, Laureen Myers, said Saturday.

Perkins, who grew up in Antelope and attended Center High School, died Monday while defusing a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province, where at least nine Marines have been killed this month. He was 27.

Perkins' mom and stepdad said Saturday that they had received an outpouring of support from his friends and comrades.

"Adam was a hero," said stepdad Bill Myers. "What he did saved countless lives, both military and civilian."

Perkins joined the Marines one week after Sept. 11, 2001, wanting to do something about what he saw on television. He chose to become a bomb technician, his mom said, because he thought it would be a challenge.

The Marines sent Perkins overseas three times. He volunteered for his second deployment to take the place of a fellow technician who was a new father, his mom recalled.

During the past nine years, Perkins earned a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, an Iraq Campaign Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon and a slew of other commendations.

Stationed at Camp Pendleton, Perkins was happiest when around his wife and son, whom the family did not want named. A serious man, Perkins often would go long periods without cracking a smile – unless his son was in the room.

Perkins didn't talk much about his work. Still, he told his mom that he didn't care for the Oscar-winning movie "The Hurt Locker," with its protagonist casually disabling bombs.

"It's a Hollywood version," Laureen Myers said, recalling Perkins' views. "He was very big on safety. Don't think for a minute he was not cautious."

He was cautious to the end. Her voice shaking, Myers explained that it wasn't a mistake that caused her son's death.

"He was defusing a roadside bomb," she said, "and there was a second detonation."