Today, I salute World War II Veteran Thomas Dewey Adams Jr. Thomas was one of the 400 service members in the first class at Keesler Air Field, and he began serving his country in the Army Air Corps in 1941 at the age of 20. Once he completed basic, he went on to become an aircraft electrical systems instructor on specialized cargo aircraft and was selected for a combat crew as a flight engineer on a B-29 Superfortress. After a year of training, his crew joined the 19th Bombardment Group and was sent to Guam, where he was promoted to a flight officer. In 1945, he participated in 24 bombing missions against Japan, totaling 379 combat flight hours. His decades of service also included work on the Manhattan Project in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After his retirement, he learned he had missed out on a promotion. Fifty-five years after his retirement, Capt. Thomas Dewey Adams, Jr. was granted his honorary promotion to Major. In addition to his promotion, Adams was presented with a handmade quilt acknowledging his service to his country by the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Congratulations on your promotion, Major Adams, and THANK YOU for your service.