Charles K. Adam

CHARLES K. ADAM

Born on 13 February 1917, Charles was the 3rd of six children born to Paul Robert Adam and Olga Emma (Ruehl) Adam. His siblings, all deceased, and their year of birth: Robert F. Adam (1914), Raymond E. Adam (1915), Berdella M. (Adam) Eaves (1919), Bennie P. Adam (1921), Gerald E. Adam (1935). Charles grew up in Cady Township, WI (St. Croix County) as a farmer's son.

Charles enlisted in the U.S. Army on 17 August 1938 at the age of 21. His occupation was noted as "Landscape gardening" on reenlistment forms on 1 May 1940. He reenlisted in order to have enough time remaining in service to serve with Company C of the 31st Infantry Regiment which was stationed in the Philippines during World War II. On 12 January 1942, he was seriously wounded in battle by bomb fragments and received the Purple Heart medal. Shortly after returning to duty on 17 March 1942, Charles was part of the force captured following the American surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on 9 April 1942. He was included in the estimated 12,000 American and 66,000 Filipino soldiers forced on the 65-mile Bataan Death March that also endured a brutal, inhumane 25-mile train ride. Over 500 American soldiers died on the march. Charles was ultimately interned in the notorious Cabanatuan Prisoner of War (POW) Camp #1, Nueva Ecija Province, Philippine Islands.

At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war who were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. Charles was hospitalized in the POW hospital on 2 June 1942 with dysentery. He never recovered and when he died on 31 October 1942, he was 25 years 8 months old. He was buried in Common Grave 703 at the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery along with six other American POWs who died the same day. Charles was awarded his 2nd Purple Heart upon his death in the POW camp.

The Japanese guards of the camp would not allow for proper burial honors or for proper records to be maintained about the deaths. Information about his death was released to his family when it was confirmed over eight months later on 10 July 1943. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan.

Following the war, from December 1945 - March 1946, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila. At that time the AGRS examined and successfully identified four of the seven sets of remains from Common Grave 703. In August 1949 the three others, which could not be identified previously, were buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines as Unknowns. During the timeframe of 1950-1952 the investigators ruled the remains were non-recoverable and they were officially listed as unknown due to multiple factors including the comingling of remains, lack of dental records, and significant deterioration from the high-water table and exposure.

In April 2019, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, the unidentified remains associated with Common Grave 703 were disinterred and sent to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) at Hickam Air Force Base Honolulu, HI for scientific analysis. On 20 January 2026, the laboratory analysis of remains using bone fragment DNA compared with family reference samples and total circumstantial evidence available identified one set of these unknown remains as those of Corporal Charles K. Adam.

Charles is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. A rosette has now been added to his name to indicate that his remains have been identified. DPAA is actively working to recover 81,000 unaccounted for (missing) military members.

Corporal Adam is entitled to the following awards and decorations: BRONZE STAR MEDAL with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster; PURPLE HEART with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster; PRISONER OF WAR MEDAL; ARMY GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL; PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION with 2 bronze oak leaf clusters; AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL with foreign service clasp; ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL with 1 bronze service star; WORLD WAR II VICTORY MEDAL; COMBAT INFANTRYMAN BADGE 1ST AWARD; HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON WWII; PHILIPPINE DEFENSE RIBBON with 1 bronze service star; PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION

His final resting place will be at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery (NWVMC) in Spooner, WI with internment ceremonies at 1:00p.m. on Friday, September 25, 2026.

Stokes, Prock & Mundt Funeral Chapel, Altoona is assisting the family. Online condolences may be shared at www.stokesprockandmundt.com.