Ronald F. Adams - Part 2 of 3

Ronald F. Adams, a member of UGA's Greatest Generation, was well known throughout Georgia as a politician and judge, but few knew of his exploits in the U.S. Marines in World War II. In the May E-newsletter Adams’ special training and assignment to the First Marine Division was recalled. This series continues as Adams received special orders to report to the South Pacific.

Adams writes,
"About this time military intelligence learned that the Japanese had moved into Guadalcanal in the British Solomon Islands, where they were establishing a military base. The Solomon Islands are a chain of islands located in the South Pacific. After I learned where we would be landing, I wrote to my parents that the wisest man in the world could not say where we were going. The military censors who read our letters missed this clue, but I knew that my father, a student of the Bible, would understand.

"The first Parachute Battalion, a battalion of special troops, was part of the First Marine Division. We loaded our gear on transport trains and traveled with the gear on troop trains from New River, N.C. to San Francisco, where we boarded civilian transports, and headed for Wellington, New Zealand. I traveled on a luxury liner called the Kungsholm, which was Greta Garbo's favorite ship. It was ornate and highly decorated, but it was carrying more men than you could pigs. They had the chow line running 24 hours a day, so that some troops were always eating. We arrived at Wellington in the middle of July, which is the dead of winter in that part of the world. We spent about a week out there on the docks, transferring equipment and supplies from the civilian transports to the U.S. Navy transports, which met us there.

"After a few days when the Navy transports had been loaded, we went down into the South Pacific for maneuvers. Paratroopers didn't have any planes for mission, so we were used as assault troops to invade in the Guadalcanal campaign. We did dry runs at the British Samoa Islands, American Samoa Islands, and the Fijis. We landed on Gavutu which was part of the British Solomon Islands on August 7, 1942.

"The paratroopers of the First Marine Division were assigned the mission of taking Gavutu and Tanambogo. The Navy transports landed at a dock not too far from the shore, and big rope ladders were thrown over the side. Troops learned how to embark and disembark from a ship by climbing these rope ladders. We timed our activities with the motion of the waves when we went down the net when we went down to the net, so we could jump over the net to the landing barge without difficulty.

"In the last two or three days before we landed, we were given our last minute instructions on how to pack our gear and what to carry. We were all supposed to have a first aid pack and a musette bag to carry some of our gear. Our medical department issued large quantities of condoms. We put anything we didn't want to get wet inside the condoms --items such as ammo, a pistol, a radio, personal items, and several cartons of cigarettes. Then we packed these things in our backpacks and prepared to go ashore. Each platoon was assigned a wave of landing barges.

"We boarded Higgins boats. A higgens boat was a 30-foot long Navy vessel made out of plywood by a man named Higins. These boats were equipped with very good packard engines, and were driven by Navy men called coxswains. The coxswain stood in the bow (the front) and steered the boat from that position. As we headed for the point where we were to land, all 30 men in my platoon were lying down, but I was standing in the middle of them with my binoculars. Standing in the stem was my captain, Captain Richard Huerth. About 300 yards off-shore, we were hit by a round of bullets. I looked forward and the coxswain was slumped over dead. I looked behind me and there was Captain Huerth sitting on gear of some kind and blood was gushing out his nose and mouth, and of course he, too, never reached the shore. As we approached the shore, the boat ran into some underwater concrete piling. We had to bail out over the side, and we waded in to shore through water up to our chests."

Ronald F. Adams - Part 1 of 3

Ronald F. Adams, a member of UGA’s Greatest Generation, was well known throughout Georgia as a politician and judge, but few knew of his exploits in the U.S. Marines in World War II.

Judge Adams graduated from Law School in 1940.  He has two sons, Walter ’77, ’80 and Ronald M. ’80, ’81.

Dr. Peter Shedd, professor of Legal Studies and Director of the MBA program for the UGA Terry College of Business, who grew up in Glynn County says he remembers Adams as his state senator and later as State Court  Judge.

“Judge Adams was clearly the most distinguished gentleman from my Brunswick days,” Shedd says. “He carried himself with a sense of dignity and southern gentility that few others could match. He remained an inspiration to me and many, many others until his death in 2003.”

Shedd adds, “he never spoke about his service in the Marine Corps.  His long, flowing white hair belied the typical appearance of a Marine!”

Judge Adams recorded his war experiences in a memoir he titled, “Tales of the South Pacific.” Through Shedd’s friendship with the Judge’s son Ron, the UGA Alumni Association was able to secure a copy of this first-hand accounting.  They are so informative and educational that the Association has decided to share the memories as a special series in our Greatest Generation project.  This is the first installment.

Judge Adams writes,
“I graduated from the University of Georgia Law School in June of 1940.  As the final exam period of my last term began, I had an emergency appendectomy, and the school waived the requirement that I take the final set of exams.  I did take the state bar exam soon after graduation, but I was not prepared due to the appendectomy and I did not pass the bar exam in the summer of 1940.  I then accepted a position as a teacher at Blackshear High School in Pierce County.  I boarded in Blackshear and got a key to a local lawyer’s office, where I went in the evening to prepare to take the bar exam again in December, 1940.  I was successful that time.

“Congress had passed a law requiring compulsory military service, and every man within the specified age range was given a number by the draft board..  I had a very low number, and I knew that I was soon going to be called on to enter the service because the war clouds were gathering thicker and thicker by the day.  My brother Dow, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1937, was in the regular army.  The Army officer candidates at that time were coming through R.O.T.C., but Dow told me that the Marine Corps had openings for officer candidates.  He advised that I apply for officer candidates school at Quantico, VA.

“Based on my application to the Marine Corps recruiter in Savannah, after answering questions, I was accepted and immediately given the oath of office.  I told the recruiting sergeant that I would need a week or two to give the Pierce County Board of Education time to hire a new teacher.  He told me that, as a result of the oath, I was already in the service and that I had 24 hours to get back to Savannah.  I took a day to get my affairs in order and then arrived a couple of days late at Quantico, where boot camp had already started.  Since we were candidates to serve as commissioned officers, we had better than average drill sergeants.

“One problem that had to be addressed was my age.  At the time I joined the Marines I was over 25 and therefore too old for OCS.  I asked my mother’s brother, Talmadge Middleton, and one or two other people to certify that I was born July 23, 1916, even though I was born in 1915.  The Marines accepted a certificate issued on the basis of those certifications.  After the war was over, I realized that I should correct this “error” in the Marine records, so I got my mother to sign a new certificate about my birth year and the Marines changed their records to show my correct date of birth.

“We remained at boot camp for ninety days, where we were trained in bayonet, Springfield rifle and other weaponry.  We also learned first aid and other basics for the Marines.  A footlocker was issued to every man, and we all received identical articles of clothing and personal gear.  Each item was required to be placed in a particular place in every footlocker, so that any person trained in this system would go to any footlocker and find any garment or possession that he might need.  After practicing on the rifle range and going through strict military training and calisthenics, we were commissioned in May, 1941,  We were then given about ten days leave when we went to our homes for a short furlough.

“We then returned to Quantico where we were trained for another 90 days.  We were then commissioned as second lieutenants in the Marine Corps Reserves.  My first station was at Paris Island, South Carolina as an officer supervising recruits at boot camp.  This is where I learned an expression from an old first sergeant, “If one can do it, they can all do it.”  That was one of the basic principles behind the operation of the Marine Corps.

“I was still at Paris Island on December 7, 1942, when the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor.   My brother, Dow, and his wife, April, and their son, Peter, were in Hawaii at that time.  Dow was stationed at Schofield Barracks, but he and April were on the “Big Island” for the weekend when the attack occurred.  I don’t remember exactly how, but we learned fairly that Dow and his family were safe.

“I had a battalion of approximately 2,600 men. I was unable to get the necessary equipment for my troops.  I went to the quartermaster, Col. Wynn, at the recruit depot.  He then told me that I would have to make do with the available equipment.  I was not satisfied with that answer and said, ‘I’d like to put in a request for a transfer.'

“He responded, ‘What do you want, parachute duty?’  I didn’t know that the Marine Corps had a parachute training program, but I replied immediately, ‘Yes, Sir.’ He said ’We’ll prepare a request for transfer for you.’  A company clerk typist happened to be in earshot of our conversation.  He prepared my request for parachute duty, and I signed it.  Colonel Wynn signed my request which was immediately sent to Charleston, where they ordered a more strenuous physical examination than they required for the regular Marines.  I passed the examinations and got orders for Lakehurst, N.J., where I entered the parachute training program.

“On the first day of the program, everyone went for a short indoctrination flight, to give us all a chance to ride in a plane.  However, having arrived after the training started, I missed that and I took seven jumps before I ever landed in an airplane.  I have always contended that the purpose of an airplane was to jump out of it with a parachute.

“I had rigorous training, which on the final day included one hour of calisthenics, and a five-mile run after the calisthenics.  We graduated as qualified parachutists and were assigned to duty at New River, North Carolina where the parachute group of the First Marine Division was training.  My commander was Col. Robert H. Williams, later called Gavutu Bob Williams.  I was assigned to Company C under a man named Richard H. Heurth.  His family had a furrier business in Boston.  I was made a platoon leader.”