Jack Wilbur Adkins
When WWII broke out, Jack was of draft age but he was deferred from service initially because he worked at the Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle, Washington. At that time, Boeing was building the B-17 and Jack was working on the assembly line. The B-17 was instrumental in winning the war in Europe, later the B-29 would play a major role in winning the war in the Pacific. As soon as the war ended, Jack was drafted to allow active-duty soldiers to return home as quickly as possible. Jack was stationed in Japan and served in the U.S. Army Occupation Force. He was assigned was to a cryptography unit. His duty was to encrypt outgoing messages and decrypt incoming messages.
After his tour he returned to Seattle and the Boeing Company. His military training helped him get a job off the assembly line as a tooling inspector. Jack went on to serve the Boeing Company for the rest of his working life. He ended up managing Boeing’s Commercial Contracts Administration department. Jack enjoyed entertaining company guests in the family home. Jack was a gracious host as was Helen. Growing up, all of the children were privileged to meet a variety of people from different countries and backgrounds.