Boise Residents Shocked to Find Humble, Local Architect Was War Hero Who Saved President George H. W. Bush's Life
"That's the way it was with 'the greatest generation. They went to war, came home and went to college and never even told their families what they'd done. He put his Navy years [medals] in his footlocker and didn't worry about them."
(Boise, Idaho)—86-year-old Nat Adams, facing death, is in hospice care at his Boise home. To the residents of Boise who knew Adams as an extremely humble, highly gifted architect whose works have graced the Northwest for over 50 years, it perhaps came as no surprise when they learned that he was also a war hero who saved the life of President George H. W. Bush.
According to an article in the Idaho Statesman, Adams never told anyone, not even his wife, about his "stunning array of military medals," including two Distinguished Flying Crosses. (Photo: Wikipedia)
"That's the way it was with 'the greatest generation,'" Sally Adams said. "They went to war, came home and went to college and never even told their families what they'd done. He put his Navy years in his footlocker and didn't worry about them."
As Adams' family was going through some of Nat's things stored in their basement, they also reportedly found about 30 personal notes from former President George H.W. Bush. When Adams was hospitalized last month, notes reporter Tim Woodward, Bush called to ask how serious it was and offer his support and prayers.
Notes Woodward: "Without Adams, there might not have been a President Bush. Adams was one of four fighter pilots flying cover when George H.W. Bush's bomber was shot down while attacking a Japanese island in 1944. When Bush parachuted into the ocean, Japanese in small boats left the island to try to capture him. Adams and his fellow fighter pilots strafed the boats, sparing the future President a grim death."
"Without your covering support," Bush wrote in a letter to Adams, "I would undoubtedly have been captured, executed and cannibalized."
Yet he remained the most modest of men. "I knew him for 20 years," says Woodward. "He regularly called or dropped by the newsroom—without ever knowing about his distinguished past. He was just the friendly local architect with the big smile, unstoppable enthusiasm and an endless supply of story ideas on subjects from books to sports cars."
After the war, Adams became an architect. Says Woodward: "He and his associates designed more than 700 buildings, including churches, hospitals, nursing homes, banks and schools. His better-known projects include Ste. Chapelle Winery, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketchum, the former J.R. Simplot residence that will become Idaho's governor's mansion, Boise State University's physical education complex and Bronco Stadium, which was built on the site of the old airstrip where Adams learned to fly."
