West Saint Paul Antiques

John Terry Adams
Lance Corporal

PERSONAL DATA
  Home of Record: Covington, Oklahoma
  Date of birth:  Sunday, 01/23/1944

MILITARY DATA
  Service:        Marine Corps (Regular)
  Grade at loss:  E3
  Rank:           Lance Corporal
  ID No:          2033889  
  MOS:            0311 Rifleman
  LenSvc:         Between 2 and 3 years
  Unit:           C CO, 1ST RECON BN, 1ST MARDIV

CASUALTY DATA
  Start Tour:     Not recorded
  Cas Date:       Thursday, 06/16/1966
  Age at Loss:    22
  Remains:        Body recovered
  Location:       Quang Tin, South Vietnam
  Type:           Hostile, died outright
  Reason:         Gun or small arms fire - Ground casualty

ON THE WALL       Panel 08E Line 050

For extraordinary heroism while serving with Company C, 1st Platoon, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam on 16 June 1966. Corporal Adams was a member of a reconnaissance team occupying an observation post on Hill 488, Quang Tin Province, deep in enemy controlled territory. During the early morning hours the platoon of eighteen men was subjected to an intense assault by an estimated North Vietnamese unit of battalion size. As the members of his team were withdrawing to a predesignated defensive perimeter, Corporal Adams braved the withering small-arms fire and returned accurate rifle fire which momentarily slowed the enemy assault force and enabled his companions to reach the relative safety of the defensive position. Firing all his ammunition, Corporal Adams fearlessly charged directly into the assaulting horde and, using his rifle as a club, killed two of the enemy soldiers before he was struck down by automatic weapons fire. Severely wounded, he once again engaged an enemy soldier in hand-to-hand combat and, in a final effort, killed his foe. As a result of his courageous action and fighting spirit, his comrades were able to rally and withstand the onslaught of the numerically superior enemy. Corporal Adams upheld the finest traditions of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.