Private First Class Adams was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy along the Chosin Reservoir near Yudam-ni, North Korea, on 28 November 1950. He was presumed dead on 4 June 1954. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Adams was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.