Editor’s note: The writer wishes to thank Tim Reed of the Texas Panhandle War Memorial, Warren Strider from the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum Archives, historian Janice Cranmer and others who helped trace information about Frank Lee Adams and his family background for this story.
The mystery of Frank Lee Adams, a World War II pilot who was shot down over Berlin in an air assault against the Reich capital, started with an email sent to Jon Behrens, City of Canyon Assistant City Attorney.
The email came from Frank Amory, who lives in the Netherlands and had adopted Adams’ grave in the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, as a symbol of appreciation to soldiers from the U.S. who protected them during the war. The curious tie-in to Canyon, Texas, was on Adams’ birth certificate, which reported him born in Canyon, Texas, in 1915.
With few clues to go on, Amory, who wanted to let any relatives of Adams know about his grave, reached out to Behrens for information. The search then began.