He was born in Caton, New York.[3] After earning a bachelor's degree from Western Michigan College in 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces.[3] He was awarded his pilot's wings and commissioned a second lieutenant on August 30, 1943.[3] He then served as an instructor at Newport, Arkansas until July 1944. In February 1945, however, he joined the 343rd Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group in the European Theater of World War II. He was credited with two enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground.[3]
As part of the 16th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Group in the Korean War, Major Adams was credited with 6.5 enemy aircraft shot down between January and May 1952, making him an ace.[3][4][5] He was awarded a Silver Star for leading a squadron of six against 20 "MIG type aircraft" on May 3 and downing two of the enemy.[6]
Transferred back to the United States, Adams was killed in a Detroit airshow crash on August 30, 1952, making him one of only two Korean War flying aces to die before the end of the war, the other being George A. Davis, Jr.[7] Major Adams and his radar operator died after a wing tore off their Northrop F-89 Scorpion.
Gurney, Gene (1958), Five Down and Glory: A History of the American Air Ace, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, ISBN0-405-03764-3, (1972 Arno Press edition)
