ADAMS-JAMES

LOST  AT  SEA

 

During World War II there were thousands of ordinary men who led otherwise quiet lives but, who in a way seldom seen since that time, put their plans and dreams on hold and turned out to squarely face a lethal foe.  The Log pages of the Navy Memorial name many of these valiant men about who little is known.  Many have been honored with the simple phrase –LOST AT SEA.

 

James Edward Adams is one of these valiant men.  Little has been recorded about him.  It is known that he was born on December 9, 1915, at Conifer, Colorado, and started working with his parents on their farm north of Yuma, Colorado, at a very early age.  He reportedly enlisted in the Navy in October 1943, was called to active duty on April 7, 1944, and received his recruit training at the Naval Training Center, Farragut, Idaho.  On June 2, 1945, he was sent overseas and at the time of his death on September 23, 1945, he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Base, Buckner Bay, Okinawa.  Together with a buddy they were exploring the island when a Japanese soldier hiding in a cave threw a grenade and killed both men.  Adams was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and was buried at the Yuma County Cemetery in Colorado.

 

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)