Navy Veteran went on to work space projects
John Adams, 90 years-young, is a direct descendant of Samuel Adams, the great American rebel and hero, and brother to President John Adams.
He’s been enjoying living in Springville for the past 30 years, after being a sailor, a metalsmith, and an engineer.
Adams was born in Seattle, Wash., and joined the Navy when he was 21, where he served as an Aviation metalsmith repairing aircraft during the Korean Conflict from 1950 until 1954, with the rank of 2nd class Petty Officer. He was assigned to the USS Kearsarge Aircraft Carrier, with the Air Group 101 out of San Diego North Island (Coronado.)
He served in Korea in 1952 and 1953 and was on the carrier in the Japan Sea with a task force that would spend 30 days in Korea, then go back to Japan for a week, and alternate between areas. Adams said the carrier would escort convoys of ships during the conflict.
In 1954, Adams left the Navy with an Honorable Discharge, and the government sent him to college where he studied electronic engineering and received his bachelor’s from Pacific State University in Los Angeles. After college he worked at Lear Solid State Physics Laboratory as a design engineer for a couple of years, then he worked for six years at Space Lab in the San Fernando Valley where he designed the bioinstrumentation for the Gemini Apollo and Space Lab from 1962 until 1970.
Adams then started his own engineering company, called Compudraft Engineering, which he ran until 1989. When it came time to retire, he said, “I went all over the U.S. searching to find a place to retire, and the V.P of my company told me about River Island.”
“I’ve spent the last 30 years playing golf,” he said with a chuckle, and he thinks the golf course is one of the best in California, and living in River Island, “Is like living in a park.”
Adams was scheduled to go on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., in April but that trip has been postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Adams Honor Flight trip has been resceheduled for September.
John was married to his first wife, Dolores, for 59 years, and they had a wonderful life, before she passed away in 2011. After a number of years, he met Ermalinda Burleson, and they got married in 2015, and they are “happy as clams,” he said.
Ermalinda said John flies the American Flag every day and is devoted and patriotic. “He stands up for our veterans and supports our military. He is very proud of them and our country,” she said, “and fights for what he believes in.”
He’s taking after his forebearers.