World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
John Edward 'Jack' Adkins
Branch of Service
U.S. Army Air Force
Hometown
Battle Creek, Michigan
Honored By
Sam E. Pennartz
Navigator, B-29 Superfortress #42-6452, 679th Bomber Squadron, 444th Bombardment Group (VH), 58th Bomb Wing, XX Bomber Command, 20th Air Force, USAAF at Kharagpur Airfield, West Bengal, India; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre of Operations. On 7 August 1944, his aircraft was enroute to a bombing mission when the #4 engine caught fire and crashed near Agartala, India. He bailed-out, but became entangled in his parachute shroud-lines and drowned when he landed in a river. His body was recovered on the following day, and buried with full military honors at nearby Tezgaon Army Air Field, India.