NOTIFIED SON DIES IN ACTION
Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Evans, 2122 Eighth avenue, have received an official notification from the war department that their son,
Lt. Robert Evans, died on April 11 from injuries suffered in combat duty in the Asiatic area.
A graduate of Thomas Jefferson high school in 1938, he received his degree in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, where he was a member of the Theta Tau, Scabbard and Blade and Tau Beta Pi fraternities. He was also a member of Bluff City Lodge No. 71 A. F. and A. M.
Following his enlistment in the army engineer corps as a second lieutenant in August, 1943, he was stationed in Puerto Rico for a year, during which time he received operational training. Early in 1944, his parents received notification that he had arrived in India.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Sunday, April 23, 1944, Page 3
DECLARED DEAD
Lt. Robert Evans was killed in the Asiatic theater on April 11.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Sunday, April 30, 1944, Page 3
Plan Memorial for Lt. Evans
Memorial service for Lt. Robert S. Evans, who died in the Asiatic theater of war on April 11, from wounds suffered in action, will be held at the Fifth Avenue Methodist church, Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Lt. Evans entered the army in August, 1942, and after basic training at Fort Belvior, a., was transferred to Porto (sic) Rico, where he was stationed until September 1943, at which time he was sent to India.
A graduate of Thomas Jefferson high school in1938, he was granted a degree in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He was a member of the Theta Tau, Scabbard and Blade and Tau Beta Phi fraternities and also of Bluff City Lodge No. 71 A. F. and A. M.
The son of Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Evans, 2112 Eighth avenue, he is also survived by one brother, Eldon B. Evans of Portland, Ore.; and two sisters, Lt. Edith J. Evans, of the army nurse corps somewhere in Australia, and Mrs. Robert L. Butler of Anton [another article states she resides in Council Bluffs].
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Thursday, May 25, 1944, Page 3
LT. EVANS BURIED in HAWAII CEMETERY
1st Lt. Robert S. Evans, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lew B. Evans, route 3, Council Bluffs, was interred in Hawaii Jan. 20 in the national memorial cemetery of the Pacific, his parents have just been informed. He died in Burma, April 11, 1944.
Lt. Evans was wounded by a Japanese mortar shell as he attempted to recapture a water hole after his unit of Merrill’s marauders had been surrounded in the jungle for 12 days.
He was graduated from Thomas Jefferson high school in 1938 and from the Colorado School of Mines in 1942. Inducted in August, 1942, he served in Puerto Rico until October, 1943. He then went to Burma.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans attended a convention last September in Philadelphia of the marauders. They heard of their son’s death first-hand from the few comrades who survived. Lt. Evans was a member of Bluff City Lodge No. 71 AF and AM.
Other survivors include two sisters, Mrs. Fay Butler of Minneapolis and Mrs. Edith M. Evans of Council Bluffs; one brother, Eldon B. Evans of Council Bluffs.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Wednesday, February 23, 1949, Page
NOTE: Merrill’s Marauders was officially known as the 5307th Composite Unit of the United States Army that fought in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. An all-volunteer unit, they were organized as a light infantry assault unit, using mules to transport the men, supplies, ammunition and gear. Lt. Evans was killed during the Marauders’ attempt to hold a position at Nhpum Ga against Japanese attacks.
Robert Samuel Evans was born Apr. 14, 1921 to Lewis Boyd and Hazel Wilmeta Hunt Evans. Lt. Evans was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Source: ancestry.com
