This article was written by the now retired editor of The Leader,Dick Peer, in Corning, New York, August 11,1998 and is reprinted with his permission.
Along one wall of the cavernous and impressive display hall is a wall of honor of distinguished flyers that tells the roles they played in battle.
One of them is a local hero-U.S. Air Force Major Donald E. Adams. At the time of his tragic death at age 32 in an air show while on leave from combat duty, he had become a Korean jet ace. He was then one of only 17 in the USAF to have attained that combat level, having been credited with downing six and one-half MIGS. For that heroic air service on 102 combat missions, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Added to his total of "kills" were four enemy planes he shot down while flying his P-51 Mustang with the 55th Air Group of the Eighth Air Force in World War 2 in the European Theatre of Operations.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Adams, of Painted Post New York. Less than two months before his death he was given a hero's welcome, riding in a festive parade July 3, 1952 in Painted Post in a homecoming hosted by the Board of Trade and the A.J. Carlton American Legion Post. Proudly seated on the speakers' platform with him were his three children, Don Jr., 8, Katie, 4, and Stevie, 3. His wife - they were married in 1943-had been called out of town by the unexpected death of her mother in Mt. Clemens, Mich
On Saturday, Aug. 30,1952, by then assigned a week earlier to Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y., Adams and his observer were killed when their F-89 Scorpion disintegrated during an air show at the International Aviation Exposition in Detroit.
Major Adams was a hero to the very last. During the show, when the jet he was piloting was about 200 feet from the ground, preparing to climb, a wing of the plane flew off. Then other parts of the plane swirled crazily. Neither the major nor his observer attempted to use the automatic jet ejectors that might have saved their lives. Spectators could see Adams, spurning possible survival, fighting at the controls in a attempt to get the plane past the crowded section of the field. Instead, they apparently rode to their deaths in an heroic effort to keep the plane from crashing into the packed crowd of thousands below from a height of 400 feet. Only four of the 37,000 spectators were injured by the flying debris.
His luck had run out after two previous miracle escapes. The first came minutes after he shot down his first Red MIG over Korea. Four other MIGs attacked him, damaged his plane and then chased him over the sea. When they finally broke off, he was low over the water and 250 miles from home base with his gasoline running out through a bullet puncture. With his last fuel, he climbed to 45,000 feet, then glided toward shore, finally restarting his engine at tree-top level, and reached his airstrip.
During a second narrow escape, his plane was struck by enemy bullets and he couldn't avoid the attacking MIGs. He radioed for help, said a prayer and soon a fellow pilot shot down the MIG on his tail and escorted him back to base.
Major Adams, who spent his boyhood in nearby Naples, graduated from Naples Central School in 1938 and later from Western Michigan University. Soon after World War 2 started, he enlisted in 1942 and eventually was assigned to fly P-51s from bases in England. After the war, he was stationed at Selfridge Field for a time, commanding a squadron, and then was assigned to Korea.
A few years after his death, the Air Force dedicated a new gymnasium at Naha Air Base on Okinawa in his memory. It was then home to the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, in which he had served.
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