Herbert H Adams was born October 12, 1923 in Waterville, Maine. His Canadian-born father immigrated to the United States with his 5 brothers, his wife and first son to work as a logger in Maine. His parents lived in Lewiston, Maine. As Lewiston is quite far from Waterville, Herbert supposes his parents were going to Canada when his mother gave birth. They had to stop at Waterville. The family has 6 children, 3 girls, one died in infancy and 3 boys. Herbert was only 5 years old when two dramas affected his life. His father was killed in an accident and his mother will also lost her life shortly after giving birth to the youngest son of the family. Herbert was then adopted by an uncle whose job was to build barns in Maine. Herb's grandparents were cabinetmakers. So naturally Herb goes after high school to work in a sawmill. Already during his studies Herbert Adams liked to work in the woodworking shop, on the other hand he hated music classes, the music teacher asked Herbert to make cabinets so students could hang their coats and put their books. The professor knew very well that Herb would lose his time in music classes. He gave gave a passing grade at the end of the year for music lessons and the teacher responsible for the workshop would give him the appropriate grade for the work done in that class. Herb manufactured cabinets for the whole school. He graduated in June 1942. After the mill, he worked in South Portland ship yard. When he entered the Naval shipyard, Herb did not realize that this business was exempting him from military service. When the declaration of war was announced, like many young American, Herbert volunteered to serve his country. He went to the recruiting office in Portland. Where he was not accepted. Meanwhile, one of his latest achievement in wood was a B-17 Flying Fortress he carved out from a piece of wood. He tried again to volunteer for the Service, but without success. In September 1942, he married Beverly, who was raised on a farm. Shortly after, Herb attempted to again volunteer, this time in the air force ... but always without success. At Christmas 1942, he went to another recruiting office. The recruiter asked Herb "Where do you work? »Herb found he was not lying when he said:" I am not working! After all, he was standing before the recruiter and therefore was not working. He was sent to a Coastal Artillery Barrage Balloon Battalion at Camp Tyson, near Paris, Tenn., he hated that assignment it was boring. On several occasions he requested a transfer to aviation unit, but each time without success. One day at Camp Tyson, he was given the task to keep 8 African-American prisoners. One of them was a large powerful man, having been in the army he knew that the guards received only 3 shells for their guns. Herbert Adams was to keep the 8 prisoners who were to perform work on the outskirts of the camp. While Herb was on edge, he picked up additional ammunition, which he always carried with him. At this time, the leader of the group of 8 black said to Herb : "Be reasonable, you only have three bullets and they are eight of us, let us slip away" Herb fired two warning shots over their heads and a third on a sign post, then he showed the prisoners that he still had ammunition. It quickly calmed the eight prisoners, who asked to Herb not to report the incident. Herb felt he did not need to go to the Post investigation Office, therefore, he said nothing. Two weeks later, in late July or early August, Herbert Adams was on duty at one of the entrances to Camp Tyson, it was about 9:00pm, he saw the headlights of two jeeps traveling side by side, Herb ordered the jeeps to stop and asked to see their " Trip tickets", the two drivers were Lieutenants, drunk as skunks. A jeep tried to leave, and Herb fired his rifle and the bullet pierced the windshield of the jeep, the lieutenant applied the brakes suddenly. However, a shot was fired and an officer of the guard arrived accompanied by a replacement for Herb. He was told to report to the orderly room the next day at 8:00am, Herbert Adams expected to receive the order to prepare a report on the incident of the evening. To his amazement, he was told to gather all his gear and be ready to be shipped within twenty minutes. Obviously, the commander did not want the Court Martial his two lieutenants, so he simply accepted the request of Herbert being transferred to an airborne division. After twenty minutes, he left to Fort Benning, Georgia. Normally volunteers for the airborne forces, who had not reached their 21st birthday, were to have the consent of their parents to be admitted to the airborne units. Herbert Adams was married, therefore it require the signature of his wife. And that, of course, he knew that Beverly would never agree. Then he forged her signature. From that moment, he participated in the training of infantry troops the most intense that you could imagine. Herbert Adams joined the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. During the combat training exercises, Herbert remembers that some young soldiers were often injured and some fainted, these soldiers were placed on the side until they came through, when they opened their eyes, they were returned to the training session, where they had to defend themselves. Then Herbert remembers is the obstacle course and finally the jump school. In December, he finished his 5 training jumps. At the last jump, he injured his foot, he did not reported the incident because he knew he was to receive a one week leave to go to Norridgewock, Maine. Where wife is would be waiting at 8 km south-west of Skowhegan.

On February 5, 1945 Company "D" has been found somewhere in the Ardennes.
"We have progressed along a stream in a silence and make sure it does not light a cigarette, for fear of being spotted by the Germans, who occupied a position parallel to our route. Unfortunately, after about one one soldier lighted a cigarette, the Germans bombed our immediate area.
Shrapnel touched me on the side of the pocket of my right leg, which had ammunition, it tore the flesh from my leg, the injury was bad and it took a few days before I from landing in a hospital in Paris, France. At that time, I had no movement in my toes, my feet were frozen. For the second time my unit was not aware of what had happened, so the after-action review, identifies me as "Missing in Action" and Beverly was notified by the Ministry of Defence that I was missing combat.
Herb was in Paris for two days, late in the afternoon of the second day a Surgeon notified him that his feet had to be amputated, the operation would be performed the next morning. During night there was such an influx of injured soldier brought in to Paris, that Herbert Adams and his buddies were transported by train to Cherbourg, he was sent to the 164th General Hospital in Cherbourg, France. He was very lucky to be treated by a young American Doctor, who had been stationed in the Aleutians. He had treated many cases of frozen limbs. Herbert asked the Doctor when he was going to amputate his feet. The Doctor answered :" Not if I can avoid this surgery." At that time he grabbed one of Herbert's toes and twisted it. The toe did not fall off, then the Doctor said to Herbert " Since your toe did not fall off, I will be able to save your feet. It will be extremely painful but we will safe your feet." Herbert H. Adams credits the doctor for saving his feet by forcing him to walk. Herb explained that when his feet were frozen, they became completely black. Hundreds of soldiers have lost their limbs because of the cold during the Battle of the Bulge.< The Doctor had Herbert set foot in a five gallon bucket ( = 18.92 liters) and with a scalpel the Doctor lanced the black skin. A foul liquid flowed out of the very badly swollen foot. All this was extremely painful to the poor soldier. The Doctor knew it was absolutely necessary to restore circulation in the foot before the gangrene would force the Doctor to amputated the limb. 
The doctor forced the soldiers to walk. One soldier refused to obey, the Doctor called a MP and ordered the Military Police soldier to fix bayonet and to follow the injured soldiers, if the later refused to walk, the MP was to stick his bayonet into the butt of the injured soldiers and forced them to walk, only when they were exhausted were they placed in an ambulance and brought back to the hospital. The hospital consisted of many tents where nurses massaged the feet and very often they re-opened the feet to drain the infection. 
This treatment was repeated every day so as to reintroduce the blood circulation in the toes. 
No soldier, who were patients of this Doctor, lost the use of their limbs. 
Note: I learned something, when Herbert Adams raised the bottom of his trousers to show us the area which had been frozen, he explained that he had completely lost the skin of his feet and even higher than  his ankles. Herbert Adams pointed out that his feet and lower legs were lacking hair; he explained to us that all frozen skin had to be replaced and the new skin could not grow hairs.

Herbert H. Adams was in an U.S. Army Hospital which was set up in tents. Each tent had a different function: operation, post operation, recovery, frozen limb, venereal disease, etc. ... 
Herbert had been placed in the tent where the poor soldiers had their hands and feet frozen. The smell of frozen limbs was awful and at times the Nurses, who were overworked and very tired, would move the worse cases into a different tent. Herbert landed in the tent which was reserved for soldiers who had "venereal diseases". There, the nurse had no sympathy for the soldiers who had failed to protect themselves against this type of disease.  Of course, Herbert did not know where he had been moved to. He would only realized the situation when a nurse gave him a very painful shot! 
Herbert grabbed her by the arm and asked her why she had given him such a shot, even before looking at the condition of his feet. 
At this time the nurse realized that Herbert was not suffering from venereal disease, she apologized.

Herbert asked her where she originated from in the United States, when Herb heard Skowhegan, Maine, they became instant friends. Herbert lived about twenty miles from this small village. 

As the health of soldiers progressed, some of them received three day passes to go to Paris. Herb was one of them. While in Paris, he met members of  "D" Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. These men were ready to return to the front in Germany that afternoon. Herbert inquired where the trucks were parked. Herbert rushed to the motorpool. He hid under the  bench of one of the trucks and when his comrades came, he asked them not to notified the Lieutenant in charge of taking roll call.">
When he arrived at the Command Post in Germany, he was questioned by his Captain, who told him he could not reinstated within the Company. Captain Adam A Komosa said: 
"Sorry Adams, we cannot take you back, you're AWOL (Absent with out leave ) The regulations did not allow Herbert to resume his duties in Company D without having received orders of transfer from hospital to Company "D".. 
Herb showed his "Three Day Pass", which had not yet expired and told the Captain: 
"I'm on leave and I want to join my unit! " 
This amazed the Captain to see a soldier, so attached to his unit he would do anything to join. The Captain had a great admiration for Herbert Adams and he did not press the issue; a few days later Herbert participated in his first training jump. 
Meanwhile, the 164th Hospital reported Herbert H. Adams AWOL. His wife Beverly was again officially notified that her husband was missing. Fortunately, the 2nd Battalion, 504th PIR warned the authorities that Herbert was back in his combat unit in Germany.

Photo of D Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment Captain Adam A Komosa Commanding (first row int the middle of the five Officers wearing khaki pants.)

Pfc Herbert H Adams standing second from the right in the back row.

His unit was transported by train to reach an area where it would cross the Rhine. He remembers being part of the paratroopers who liberated Wöbbelin concentration camp,he remembers seeing the bodies of prisoners who were tortured by the Germans in this camp,. 
"D" Company met the Russian troops at the Elbe River on May 3, 1945.

The war in Europe ended May 8, 1945. Shortly after the 504th PIR was returned to Reims in France. After a while the regiment was sent to Berlin, Germany, where it was stationed at military complex, instructions to guard a bank containing "fake" dollar bills. The paratroopers were told the that they were guarding counterfeit bills made by the Germans, these could only be used to light their cigarettes. It was not long before the Military Police arrived with military trucks to pickup all the money in the bank. Only at this time did Herb and his fellow paratroopers discovered that it was real U.S. currency. However a soldier, native of Alaska, had filled his pockets with bills, which he managed to bring back home. After the war, he told Herb Adams that all this money enabled him to buy a boat in Alaska. After the war, Herb Adams was assigned to a newly formed "Honor Guard" also called "All American Guard" because all its members were from the 82nd Airborne "All American". Division.
All members of this elite unit, commanded by Captain Howard A. Stephens were to be 1m83, all paratroopers, all wounded in combat, have an impeccable military appearance, all chosen by officers of the various regiments of the 82nd Airborne Division. 
This "honor guard" consisted of three squads of four to eight men. Their duties were to protect the supreme commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, when he was at his headquarters at the Kleist Palace in Berlin. It was an outstanding assignment, it was the best deal possible. This elite unit had privileges, among which: 
- The unit was stationed in special quarters. 
- These men were never assigned to kitchen work, cleanings, etc. ... 
- Each soldier received four parade uniforms and two pairs of paratrooper boots. 
- Each member of this unit had at its disposal all necessary Germans civilians to maintain their equipment, whether to wash their clothes, ironing uniforms, polishing their boots and other leather equipment. 
The guard were on duty for one day, then had two days of rest. 
Herb remembers getting himself in trouble while in Berlin. One day, he was with a friend at the Brandenburg Monument, when two Russian military officers began to give Herb and his friend a hard time.  Fortunately, the Russians do not understand English, and Herbert told his friend to head towards one side of one of the big columns, while he was heading the towards other side. By performing this maneuver, the two Americans struck the Russians on the head and took their weapons before fleeing in a hurry. The next encounter was even worse this time, two Americans Military Policemen arrested Herbert H. Adams and his buddy, who was from Alaska on suspicion of having sold out their cigarettes on the black market. The MPs placed Herb and his friend on the small back seat of the "Jeep". Herbert owned a small German 22 caliber pistol. Herb had it in a small holster attached to one of his ankles. It was an unusual weapon, which had two barrels, which collapsed in order to be better concealed. Herb and his buddy knew they were in trouble; Herb drew his pistol and threatened the MPs, who laughed at the situation. When Herb fired one round, the two MPs, who were not stupid, decided to cooperate and they gave up their Colt .45. Herb and his buddy told the MPs to drive around the block, and they would find their weapons near a monument. At this time, the two paratroopers vanished.  Finally the day came, Herbert was on his way back home. 
His unit was sent to a camp in southern France called "Lucky Strike". From there, he boarded a Liberty ship and returned to the United States. The vessel encountered a storm, they had to wait at sea for three days before being allowed to enter the Boston harbor. From there he was sent just before Christmas 1945 at Camp Edwards and then to Fort Devens. Herbert Adams and five other soldiers took off for Maine.  Meanwhile, all their belongings were stolen. He was finally discharged December 30, 1945. 
Herbert Adam resumed the course of his life: he joined his wife who was waiting impatiently. Herb worked for ten years building houses. After that, he founded his own company, his specialty was the fine woodwork and interior design houses.He manufactured furniture specifically for homes.  Beverly and Herbert had three children, two boys and a girl.  They also have five grandchildren. One of them is a soldier, a sergeant, who has already been to Iraq.  His decorations include: Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, the paratrooper wings, the Military Merit Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Medal, European, African, Middle East & Theaters Medal, with four (4) Battle Stars: Anzio, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Germany, the Victory Medal and Army Occupation Medal, the Belgian Fourragere, the Wilhelm Order Lanyard issued by the Queen of The Netherlands. Today, Herbert Adams and Beverly Adams still live in the house they bought in Worcester, Massachusetts after the war. Herbert Adams built a woodworking shop in his basement,  he loves to make all sorts of things,  lamps, foot stools, tables, etc. ... 
For the past fifty (50) years Herbert has been the Scoutmaster of the locate Boy Scouts of America Troop, he is also involved in organizing Regional Boy Scout Clondike Derbies in winter and Camporees in summer. Finally, Herbert frequently accompanies other veterans into schools to talk about his experience as a paratrooper during World War Two and answer questions raised by the students.