Brigadier General Carroll E. (Hap) Adams Jr. ’45 and Captain William Booth ’66 were killed in action May 12, 1970 on a UH-1 helicopter shot down over the Central Highlands, 10 miles southwest of Pleiku, Vietnam. General Adams and Captain Booth are both buried at West Point.
This year their families were supposed to gather at the Vietnam Memorial today, some of whom have never met. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 this is not going to happen.
General Adams was the Commander of the 937th Engineer Group in Vietnam. He was the father of four children, all of his three sons graduated from West Point, LTC Roberts Adams ’68, LTC Jonathan Adams ’74 and LTC(R) William Adams ’81. The English Department presents an award each year in his honor. Army Corp of Engineers named a survey boat after him (The Adams I, now retired and the Adams II – still active). Adams Hall at Fort Riley is named after him. General Adams nickname “Hap” was lifelong and given to him because he was a happy baby.
Captain Booth was Aide de Camp to Major General Dillard, Commanding Officer of the U. S. Army Engineer Command in Vietnam, who was also killed in the crash. Captain Booth was a product of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, or as he was fond of saying, “Boothsville of God’s country.” He enlisted in the Army in 1959 and, after two years of service, secured an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.