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Coy Adams

West Virginia
Veterans Memorial

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Coy Adams
1915-1942

Sgt. Coy Adams was born in Baileysville, Wyoming County, West Virginia, on December 15, 1915, to James and Eva Adams. Coy had an older brother, Troy, and two sisters:Murlie (Merley?) and Allie (Alley?). After James' death, Mrs. Adams married John Blankenship, and they became parents of a son, Calvin.

For four or five years before his enlistment in the Army, Coy lived with his aunt, Stella Fines of Bradshaw. He attended Iaeger High School, and prior to joining the Army in 1935, he was employed by Pond Creek Pocahontas Company at Raysal. At the time of his death, Sgt. Adams was single, but had been planning to marry Ethel Mullins of Bradshaw when he received a furlough.

Coy Adams signed up for the Army long before the advent of World War II. He first enlisted in 1935 and then re-enlisted in 1938. In 1939, he transferred to the newly formed Army Air Corps, received his pilot's license in 1940, and completed his radio technician's course in 1941. He was a member of the 30th Bomber Squadron, 19th Bomber Group. He was stationed in Hawaii until May 1942, when he was transferred to Australia.

Sadly, Mrs. Fines received word of her nephew's death in an accidental plane crash in Australia on August 16, 1942. She was informed that no remains could be transported until after the war, when at the request of next of kin the body could be brought to the U.S. for interment. However, this did not transpire, and Sgt. Adams' final resting place is at Honolulu, Hawaii.
Honolulu Memorial
Honolulu Memorial
Courtesy American Battle Monuments Commission

Article contributed by Patricia Richards McClure.

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West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.


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