Donald Russell Adams

Plankinton, SD

1936-37, 2757, Narrows (Blue Bell), SP-3,
1938, Marshall, MO,

Donald Adams was born February 20, 1920, in Plankinton, South Dakota, son of Charles and Margaret Adams. He went to school through the eighth grade and then went to work. He enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 and served in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Marshall, Missouri, until March 5, 1940.

Donald also worked as a steeple jack, which involved climbing precariously high on some occasions. Donald enlisted on October 20, 1942, did his basic training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and was then trained with the paratroopers, part of the 508th Infantry Regiment/ 82nd Airborne Division.

When Donald went overseas, his first jump was in the Invasion of Italy. He also jumped in Normandy on D-Day. He met his death on a jump into Holland in September of 1944. First, he was declared missing in action and was later declared killed in action in Nijmegen, Holland, in what has been called "Operation Market Garden." He was buried in Ft. Snelling in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

All of Donald’s surviving brothers served in the armed forces as well, but Donald’s brother, Earl, was not allowed in the service during the war since all of his other brothers were actively engaged in war zones. Earl’s service, therefore, was from 1947-1950. Donald was a cousin of William Doering, another Aurora County casualty of WW II.

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