1920 United States Federal Census (January 1920): Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois (sheet 19B, family 205) – Chester Carl Adkins (5 Kentucky).

1930 United States Federal Census (11 April 1930): Kewanee, Kewanee Township, Henry County, Illinois (sheet 10A, family 192, 211 N. Grove) – Chester Adkins (15 Kentucky).

1931
Chester completed one year of high school at Kewanee High School, Kewanee, Illinois.

1940 United States Federal Census (27 April 1940): Kewanee (Ward 5), Kewanee Township, Henry County, Illinois (sheet 19B, household 471, 207 North Grove Street) – Chester Adkins (25 Kentucky). had completed 1 year of high school. He was planting trees for the state.

Chester Carl Adkins (25, 02 November 1914, Madisonville, Kentucky), a resident of 207 North Grove Street, Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois, signed up for his World War II Draft Registration Card (Serial No. 483, Order No. 1891) on 16 October 1940 in Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois,. He was unemployed. Chester listed his mother, Mrs. Ruby Jane Adkins, as the person who would always know his address. He was described as 5' 6" in height, 118 lbs., with a light complexion, brown hair and brown eyes.

Chester C. Adkins (1914 Kentucky), a resident of Henry County, Illinois, enlisted as a Private (S/N 36230485) in the U.S. Army on 13 December 1941 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. His enlistment was "for the duration of the War." He was single, had completed 1 year of high school and had been working as a porter.

Induct 17 Draftees From Henry County
Peoria, Ill., Dec. 15 – (Argus News Service) – Seventeen Henry county selectees reporting Friday at the Peoria state armory were inducted in the army following tests by an examining board. Those drafted from board No. 1 were... Chester C. Adkins ... Source: The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), Monday, 15 December 1941, page 16.

Private Adkins was assigned to the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, U.S. Army and in April 1942 sent to the South Pacific. The 32nd Infantry Division "Red Arrow" fought in six major engagements in four Campaigns involving 654 days of combat, more than any other American Division during WWII. Private Adkins would have been in the thick of the fighting in the Papuan Campaign (Buna/Sanananda/Gona), New Guinea Campaign (Saidor/Aitape/Morotai), Leyte Campaign and the Luzon Campaign (Villa Verde Trail).

Chester was wounded in the re-taking of Buna, Papua, New Guinea in December 1942. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

February 1943
The war department announced the names of twenty-six Illinois soldiers ... who were wounded in action in the southwest Pacific area since early November... On the list was Private Chester C. Adkins of Kewanee. Source: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois), Saturday, 27 February 1943, page 2.

March 1945
Private First Class Chester was a passenger on a Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando (C-46D #44-77360) with the 70th Squadron, 433rd Troop Carrier Group, U.S. Army Air Force. The C-46D #44-77360 took off at about 1630, 15 March 1945, with a crew of 4 and 21 passengers, on a ferrying mission from Elmore Field, Mindoro, Philippine Islands to Tarauan, Leyte, Philippine Islands. On approach in poor weather conditions, the plane crashed into a mountain located 6 kms (3.75 miles) northwest of San Roque, south of Tanauan, Leyte, Philippine Islands. The entire crew and all the passengers (a number of them medical passengers) were killed. Source: Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR) # 15996.

He died from "crushing" injuries to his body in the "airplane crash."

Kewanee Soldier Is Killed in Leyte Plane Smash-Up
Kewanee – Kewanee's sixty-fifth war death was reported today with the war department announcement that Pfc. Chester Adkins, 30, had been killed in an airplane accident on Leyte, March 15. Adkins was a veteran of four years' service, three overseas.

The last word received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Adkins, 207 North Grove street, was in a letter march 8, when he was scheduled to come home on rotation furlough. When he failed to arrive, his parents asked the assistance of the American Red Cross. He had been wounded in action in December, 1942. Source: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois), Tuesday, 07 August 1945, page 12.

Pfc. Chester C. Adkins was first buried in 7740 USAF Cemetery, Leyte #1, Palo, Leyte, Philippines Islands – Grave 196 (D-D 581). After the war (autumn of 1947) his remains (along with 8,568 other American soldiers) were disinterred and brought to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (father, Mr. Walter Adkins), Private First Class Chester Carl Adkins was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot B, Row 5, Grave 13.

Crew who perished on C-46D #44-77360:

Bruno, Samuel A ~ Sgt, Radio Operator, PA
Haslam, Wilson B ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, WA
Poillucci, Arthur T ~ S/Sgt, Engineer, NY
Reed, Myles V ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot, NJ

Passengers who perished on C-46D #44-77360:

Adkins, Chester C ~ Pfc, IL
Baird, John H, Jr ~ 1st Lt, MO
Baker, Raymond E ~ T/4, WA
Bekenstein, Charles J ~ T/5, D.C.
Compton, Lewis G, Jr ~ Capt, TX
Davis, Guy J ~ Pfc, NC
Dougherty, Charles E ~ Capt, WA
Enochs, Charles S ~ Capt, CO
Fatula, Andrew ~ Sgt, PA
Frankforther, Lewis L ~ Pvt, OH
Gonzalez, Alejandro ~ S/Sgt, TX
Hageman, Jack F ~ Pfc, OH
Horning, Adam E ~ T/5, MI
Jacobs, James A ~ 2nd Lt, WV
Sass, Joseph F ~ FO, NJ
Sermersheim, Joseph J, Jr, Corp, KY
Turner, Charles H ~ Capt, AL
Walton, Robert M ~ Corp, PA
Weston, Bruce S ~ T/5, VA
Wigen, Ken J ~ Corp, WI
Willis, John R ~ 1st Lt, NY

(Crew list and links by: Russ Pickett )