Native American Private First Class Adam West Driver served with distinction in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Driver was born on May 17, 1917, in Cherokee, North Carolina, which is the homeland and capital of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He was the eldest of four children; his father Ned was a farmer, and his mother Caroline was a homemaker.
The Driver family names appear in the 1926 document, Final Roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina, and in the April 1932 Indian Census Roll.
A high school graduate, Driver moved to 最新杏吧原创 in the 1930s. He attended the David Rankin Jr. School of Mechanical Trades, where he received a diploma in carpentry in June 1939. Following graduation, he worked as a cabinetmaker for Wood Products Company and for the Stout Sign Company. In September 1940, Driver married Margaret Elizabeth Brown.聽
On Oct. 16, 1940, Driver completed his military draft registration card. He signed his name as 鈥淲esley Driver鈥 and listed his race as 鈥淚ndian.鈥澛
Driver joined the U.S. Marine Corps in March 1944. According to military records, he spoke Cherokee as well as English.聽
Driver completed his Marine Corps training as an infantry rifleman. In August 1944, he was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. In January 1945, his unit embarked on the USS Mellette for the island of Iwo Jima.聽
The unit landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. This was the first day of battle against a Japanese force of about 21,000 soldiers with hidden artillery, heavily fortified positions and a network of bunkers and tunnels.
On that first day, Driver was wounded but not evacuated. He continued to fight as an automatic rifleman for weeks, until he was killed by a fragmentation shell explosion on March 4, 1945.聽
After the battle concluded on March 26, 1945, about 7,000 United States Marines had been killed. Of the estimated 21,000 Japanese soldiers in the fight, only 216 survived and were taken prisoner.聽
PFC Adam West Driver was awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, WWII Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal and several other medals for his service. His name appears in the May 7, 1945, issue of the 最新杏吧原创 Post Dispatch newspaper, along with the 237 names of the other individuals from the 最新杏吧原创 area who were killed in action in one month.聽
Initially, Driver was buried in a temporary grave on Iwo Jima. However, in 1948, at his father鈥檚 request, Driver鈥檚 remains were returned for interment at Yellow Hill Baptist Church Cemetery on the Cherokee Indian reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina.
Driver鈥檚 name is inscribed in the Court of Honor at Soldiers Memorial and Military Museum in 最新杏吧原创.
The Smithsonian exhibit honoring Native American military service, 鈥淲hy We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces,鈥 is on display at Soldiers Memorial Military Museum from June 20 through Aug. 30, 2026.
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