James Adams
James Adams was born and raised in New Jersey. Shortly after completing his sophomore year of high school, he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, and served with them for several years in the turbulent 1920s and 1930s. (1) Upon retiring, he married, found a non-service occupation as a signal plant mechanic in New Jersey, and spent several peaceful years as a civilian before the second war came.
James Adams dusted off his uniform and enlisted in January, 1943. He left his wife at their home at 235 William Street in Orange, New Jersey, and traveled by train to Paris Island, South Carolina. He was appointed a sergeant with the depot’s Headquarters battalion, and quickly became a drill instructor. He spent several months molding recruits into Marines before being transferred to the west coast, where he joined First Battalion, 24th Marines as a platoon sergeant. Adams’ chief duties were Police & Property Sergeant, meaning he had charge of the battalion’s guard duties as well as overseeing the upkeep of equipment and meting out punishments as needed. His imposing stature, past history, and advanced age – he was thirty-three, while most of his young charges were in their teens or early twenties – made him a good choice for the job; few would dare risk the wrath of a senior sergeant, especially one who had spent months as an instructor.
In January 1944, Adams boarded the USS DuPage and sailed away from California. His regiment was headed for its first test in combat, on the island of Namur in the Kwajalein atoll.
Although the operation would later be praised as a success, the actual February 1 landing on Namur felt like anything but. The vast majority of the Marines were new to combat, landing craft got lost or were unavailable, and a Japanese ammunition bunker blew up with enough force to shake the ground and cover the island in a pall of smoke. Adams, deciding that his help would be needed in the confusion, took off for the front lines – although he could have stayed in the comparative safety of battalion headquarters back at the beach.
The first group Adams encountered was a section of the Third Platoon of Company A, with some machine gunners attached. They were pinned in a trench by heavy Japanese fire coming from a series of positions nearby. Initial attempts by a few individuals were pushed back, but a lone assault by Corporal Arthur Ervin (a former Marine Raider) succeeded in destroying one position, while a bazooka round took out another. Adams joined a handful of Marines in a mad scramble to exploit the gain. Lieutenant Philip E. Wood, Jr., witnessed the attack.
[We] gave the dugout a barrage of grenades – at a range of ten yards – they were deafening – [Sgt. Frank A. Tucker] and Cpl. [Franklin C.] Rogers charged first, but were driven back by fire. Then five or six of us went over the edge of the embankment and shot everything that moved… When I turned, the rest of them had gone on – running, stopping to fire when they saw a fleeing Jap – following the beachline along the island. [PFC William J.] Imm and I started after them, heard heavy firing, and stopped to reconnoiter. We were almost up to a wide, cleared area, just off a road running parallel to the beach. The “daring dozen” were across the clearing, and apparently having a hell of a fight in the scrubbed area 100 yards ahead of us.
A Marine combat correspondent then took up the story:
The entire group then moved along the shore. The Japanese were thick in a wide, deep trench, interspersed at frequent intervals by underground dugouts from which came rifle and machine gun fire. Platoon Sergeant James Adams of Orange, N.J., personally knocked out one enemy machine gun in this advance along the trench. He was standing up firing pointblank at enemy riflemen, when he himself was hit.
Adams was shot multiple times in the head and body, and was dead before he hit the ground. Once the enemy position was taken, his remains were carried on a stretcher to the beach, then to the Pauline Point Cemetery, where he was buried in Grave 70, Plot 2, Row 3.
James Adams’ final actions were witnessed by at least three officers from Company A, who put their heads together to recommend him for the Silver Star medal. The decoration was presented to Rose Marie, along with the following citation:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Platoon Sergeant James Adams (MCSN: 202198), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Twenty Fourth Marines, Fourth Marine Division in combat against enemy Japanese forces during the invasion of Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, 1 February 1944. Although his post as police sergeant did not require it, Platoon Sergeant Adams joined his comrades in the front lines and fought with skill and courage to dislodge the enemy from their entrenched positions along the northern beach of the island. On one occasion he and another Marine assaulted a connected series of trenches and a pillbox by alternately attacking the Japanese and acting as cover for each other until reaching positions approximately ten yards from the enemy emplacement. Fearlessly exposing himself to the Japanese, Platoon Sergeant Adams succeeded in destroying five of the hostile troops before he, himself, was killed. His extreme bravery and tenacious determination were an inspiration to his comrades and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
After the war, James Adams was re-buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where he rests today.
HOME OF RECORD: Orange, NJ
NEXT OF KIN: Wife, Mrs. Rose Marie Adams
DATE OF BIRTH: 5/5/1910
SERVICE DATES: 1/25/1943 – 2/1/1944
DATE OF DEATH: 2/1/1944
INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Silver Star, Purple Heart
RANK: Platoon Sergeant
STATUS: Killed in Action
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NOTES:
(1) Adams’ low serial number indicates that he originally enlisted in the early to mid 1920s. He had apparently retired at some point, and chose to re-join the service after an absence: a January 1943 muster roll states “enlisted” as opposed to “re-enlisted,” and he entered the service as a sergeant. Sequentially, the number suggests he enlisted in November 1925, although he would have been quite young for Marine service. Unfortunately, many men named James Adams served during this period, and constructing a definite record of his inter-war service is difficult with readily available records.