Clarence Adams (January 4, 1929 – September 17, 1999) was an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

GI during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He was captured on November 29, 1950, when the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

overran his all-black artillery unit's position. Adams was held as a

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

until the end of the war. Instead of returning to the United States during

Operation Big Switch Operation Big Switch was the repatriation of all remaining prisoners of the Korean War. Ceasefire talks had been going on between the North Korean, Chinese and United Nations Command (UNC) forces since 1951, with the main point of contention bein ...

, Adams was one of 21 American soldiers who chose to settle in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. As a result of their decision, these 21 Americans were considered defectors.

Early life

Adams was born on January 4, 1929, and grew up poor in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. He dropped out of high school and joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in 1946, at the age of 17.

Korean War

After basic training, Adams became an infantry machine gunner. He was sent to Korea shortly after the war between North and South erupted in June 1950 and was posted to Battery A of the 503rd Artillery Regiment, attached to the 2nd Infantry Division. This was his second tour in Korea, as he had first been posted there in 1948. After his capture by the Chinese, Adams took classes in communist political theory, and afterwards lectured other prisoners in the camps. Because of this and other collaboration with his captors, his prosecution by the Army was likely upon his repatriation. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Adams made propaganda broadcasts for

Radio Hanoi Radio Hanoi was a propaganda radio station run by the North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War. It originated in 1945, when it broadcast from Hanoi a week after the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with the declaration "This i ...

from their Chinese office, telling black American soldiers not to fight: Adams married a Chinese woman name Liu Lin Feng and lived in China until 1966.https://archive.today/20231003091156/https://www.nknews.org/2023/10/travis-king-wouldnt-be-the-first-soldier-in-korea-to-reject-america-for-racism/

Return to the United States

Adams returned to the United States from China via

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on May 26, 1966, citing that he missed his mother. The

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

subpoenaed Adams upon his return but did not question him publicly. The charges raised by the committee were dropped. He later started a

Chinese restaurant A Chinese restaurant is a restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese style, due to the history of the Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, though other Chinese regional cuisine, regional cuisin ...

business in Memphis in 1972. He ran four of them with his wife at one point. Adams died on September 17, 1999. His autobiography '' An American Dream: The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China'' was posthumously published in 2007 by his daughter Della Adams and Lewis H. Carlson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Clarence 1929 births 1999 deaths United States Army personnel of the Korean War American defectors to China American prisoners of war in the Korean War United States Army soldiers Military personnel from Memphis, Tennessee African-American United States Army personnel 20th-century African-American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American male writers

Early life

Korean War

Return to the United States

See also

References