Adams, Samuel Air Force Chief master sergeant

Samuel Adams from Goldenrod, Florida, Orange county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, October 31, 1965

Death details: On October 31, 1965, four U.S. service members returning from a rest and relaxation break in Vung Tau, South Vietnam, were riding in a truck with a Vietnamese driver. While en route to Saigon, the truck was stopped by local communist guerilla forces and the four U.S. service members were captured. On November 2, while being moved to an enemy prisoner of war camp, two of the four men attempted to escape; one was wounded and recaptured by the guards, but the other successfully escaped and returned to U.S. control two days later. Upon his return, air and ground search efforts were launched for the other three men but without success. In January 1973, the names of the three men who did not escape appeared on the died-in-captivity list released by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, and their remains have not been returned.

Staff Sergeant Samuel Adams entered the U.S. Air Force from Florida and served with the 6250th Support Squadron. He was one of the three men who did not escape during this incident and was reportedly killed by the local communist guerilla guards. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted SSgt Adams to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt). Today, Chief Master Sergeant Adams is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency