Airman Third Class Hadley was a member of the 8th Maintenance and Supply Group, U.S. Air Force. On 18 June 1953, he was a passenger on a C-124A Globemaster transport traveling from Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, to Korea. He was killed when the aircraft crashed about three miles from Tachikawa.

Hadley was awarded 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.