Richard Adams

Born 1933 in Sioux Rapids, Iowa

U.S. Army Korean War-Era Veteran

The Korean War had just ended when Richard Adams joined the Army in the fall of 1953. “They sent me to Fort Lewis for basic training then I shipped out,” he remembered. He headed to Japan where he spent more than a year in the country doing schooling and training along with his regular job working on heavy equipment for the U.S. Army.  “I was a mechanic and helped repair ‘Cats,’ road graders and skidders,” he said.

When his tour of duty with the Army was up in 1955, he got his discharge papers and headed back to Iowa. Adams was able to go back to college, supporting himself with odd jobs. “I worked for a church and taught school for a while,” he explained. “I also worked for a mobile home manufacturer, too.” He moved to Fairmont in 1966.

One of life’s biggest achievements for Adams didn’t have to do with the military or traveling the world. He said it’s being a Boy Scout. “I’m a 40-year Scouter,” he said. The Army veteran joined scouts in 1978 when his son joined the Cub Scouts. “I became a Scout Master and worked many years at Boy Scout camps,” Adams said. He still wears his Boy Scout uniform to special events.