ADAM, JOHN QUINCY
SEE NOTE BELOW - REMAINS ID'D 2009
Name: John Quincy Adam Rank/Branch: E3/USAF Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand Date of Birth: 22 December 1947 Home City of Record: Bethel KS Date of Loss: 22 May 1968 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 162000N 1063000E (XC843858) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 4 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A Refno: 1187
Other Personnel in Incident: Jerry L. Chambers; Calvin C. Glover; Thomas E. Knebel; William H. Mason; William T. McPhail; Thomas B. Mitchell; Gary Pate; Melvin D. Rash (all missing)
REMARKS: CONTACT LOST - NFI
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2003.
SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed C130 Hercules aircraft was a multi-purpose propeller driven aircraft, and was used as transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather reconnaissance craft, electronic reconnaissance platform; search, rescue and recovery craft.
In the hands of the "trash haulers", as the crews of Tactical Air Command transports styled themselves, the C130 proved the most valuable airlift instrument in the Southeast Asia conflict, so valuable that Gen. William Momyer, 7th Air Force commander, refused for a time to let them land at Khe Sanh where the airstrip was under fire from NVA troops surrounding that base.
Just following the Marine Corps operation Pegasus/Lam Son 207 in mid-April 1968, to relieve the siege of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland II began in the Khe Sanh area, more or less as a continuation of this support effort. The C130 was critical in resupplying this area, and when the C130 couldn't land, dropped its payload by means of parachute drop.
One of the bases from which the C130 flew was Ubon, located in northeast Thailand. C130 crews from this base crossed Laos to their objective location. One such crew was comprised of LtCol. William H. Mason and Capt. Thomas B. Mitchell, pilots; Capt. William T. McPhail, Maj. Jerry L. Chambers [SEE NOTE BELOW], SA Gary Pate, SSgt. Calvin C. Glover, AM1 Melvin D. Rash, and AM1 John Q. Adam, crew members.
On May 22, 1968, this crew departed Ubon on an operational mission in a C130A carrying one passenger - AM1 Thomas E. Knebel. Radio contact was lost while the aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos near the city of Muong Nong, (suggesting that its target area may have been near the DMZ - Khe Sanh). When the aircraft did not return to friendly control, the crew was declared Missing In Action from the time of estimated fuel exhaustion. There was no further word of the aircraft or its crew.
The nine members of the crew are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many are known to have been alive on the ground following their shoot downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one American held in Laos has ever been released. Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace accords ending American involvment in the war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that would free the Americans held in Laos, and not one of them has returned home.
John Q. Adam could still be alive. He isn't aware that his home town of Bethel has lost its identity, having been incorporated into a growing Kansas City, Kansas, but there can be no doubt that he knows he has been abandoned by the country he proudly served.
(William Mason was a 1946 graduate of West Point. Thomas Mitchell was a 1963 graduate of the Air Force Academy.)
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Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 19:25:05 -0700 From: (Chris Chambers)
There is some information incorrect in this posting. LTC, then Major Chambers was the passanger. LTC. Jerry L Chambers was a FAC assigned to the 23rd TASS at NAKOM PHANOM. During this flight he ws present as an observer.
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Subject: MIA John Q AdamMy
name is Johnny W. Tolly, USAF SMSGT Ret. My cousin John Q Adam remains have
been identified and will be returning for final burial at Kansas City
Kansas,
tentatively set for 27 July 2009. My father and John Q Adams’ mother were
twins.
My twin brother Jimmy W. Tolly and I entered the USAF together. John Q Adam
was
prompted to the rank of CMSGT. His plane actually went down in North
Vietnam,
not South Vietnam. I can provide documents to back this up should you wish
or
you can contact the military. Sincerely, Johnny W. Tolly
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Obituary
for John Q. Adam Funeral
Services for Airman First Class John Q. Adam, 20, who was shot down over
Chapel
Hill-Butler Funeral Home (913)
334-3366
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Posted on Fri, Jul. 31, 2009
Family of Air Force veteran finally gets remainsBy DAWN BORMANNThe Kansas City Star Johnny is coming home. When Pat Graybill heard her 91-year-old father speak those words through the telephone, she allowed herself to imagine - if only for a split second. "To me, I still picture him as my older brother," Graybill said. But after 41 years of waiting, Graybill knew exactly what her father meant. "You're talking about his remains," she said to him. Johnny Adam was a skinny, blue-eyed 20-year-old when he disappeared on May 22, 1968, during the Vietnam War. His remains returned July 24 to his father and two sisters, now in their 50s, left behind. The military allowed his nephew, Air Force Staff Sgt. Adam Blankenship, to leave Afghanistan to accompany his uncle's remains back to Kansas. It was a moment that his family had thought about, dreamed about and prayed about since 1968. Air Force documents show that Adam's plane was near the border of Laos on a nighttime flare mission when it disappeared. Another U.S. aircraft saw what appeared to be a ground fire near the plane's last known location. But anti-aircraft fire made a search impossible. By daylight, photos showed no evidence of wreckage. All nine crew members on the C-130A Hercules were designated as missing in action. A chaplain and Air Force officials came to the home of Adam's parents on Longwood Avenue in Kansas City, Kan., to notify the family. Yet his mother, father and sisters had reason to hope. Days turned into months. Eventually the Air Force sent his belongings, including a partially finished model airplane, home to Kansas. It was a reminder that Adam volunteered for service partly because he had dreamed of flying. His family reluctantly sold the horses that Adam had prized. Years went by. Presidents began sending holiday letters with their respects. When the war ended, the family waited to see if Adam was among the survivors. "We got a call. It was actually fairly late at night and they said his name wasn't on the list," Graybill said. It was a crushing blow. The sisters thought about him daily. Katherine Mills served in the honor guard during her 21-year career in the Air Force. "I would be there thinking, 'Gosh, I wish I could do this for Johnny,' " she said. By 1978, the military had declared Adam dead. A memorial service was held, and a marker was erected at one of three burial plots his parents had purchased. In 1999 his mother, Esther Adam, died and was buried next to his empty plot. Longtime friends would occasionally ask Adam's sisters: "Have you ever heard?" Turns out, strangers thought about it, too. About 40 years ago, Mary Ellen Ballard sent away for a Vietnam-era bracelet with the name of a soldier who was missing in action. It was a way to honor the missing. Adam's name was engraved on her bracelet. "I said a prayer for him every time I thought about him," Ballard said. "I didn't know his family was right under my nose." The Air Force kept the family informed about its efforts to find Adam, who was an airman first class at the time of the crash. "For all this time they've been searching. They just don't give up," his father, Ken Adam, said. "They keep looking." He knows because the Air Force sent letter after letter to the house on Longwood, detailing the search. In 2002, the military excavated a site and found identification for at least one crew member. Slowly the pieces came together. Eventually, Adam was identified through dental records and DNA. He was one of only five crew members positively identified. Military officials recovered hundreds of bone fragments and other items that took years to process, said Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA office. Forensic scientists went to great lengths to identify even the smallest pieces. In May, the military called the same house on Longwood to share the latest news: Their son was identified. He was headed home. It was cause for celebration and tears. "I come and go," Graybill said, wiping away tears last week. She'll never stop wondering what her big brother might have been. "I thought about it a lot," she said. Yet there is comfort in knowing that his memorial service will be a chance for the community to honor her brother. Ballard will be among those attending, thanks to a chance meeting with Adam's cousin at a youth sporting event. She plans to give the bracelet to the family. Ballard won't be the only one. Several other strangers who wore similar bracelets with Adam's name also have asked to attend. The family welcomes the public at the visitation and funeral for Adam, who now has the rank of chief master sergeant. POW/MIAs are promoted at the same rate as their peers. The invitation offer is especially extended to Vietnam veterans and the families of any military personnel who are missing in action. Graybill and Mills have received several calls from friends who didn't know Johnny but want to attend to show their appreciation. He deserves that, they believe. "I'm proud of him," Graybill said. "He at least lived his dream. He wanted to fly, and he got to do that. That helps for me."
© 2007 Belleville News-Democrat and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.belleville
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