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Contact Info
Home Town Detroit, Michigan
Last Address Bethesda, Maryland
Date of Passing Nov 05, 1987
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates Plot: Section 3, Site 1858-A
General Evans was born in Detroit, Michigan on 21 August 1893, and died at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Maryland, on 4 November 1987, at the age of 94. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, with full military honors, on 9 November 1987 beside his late wife (Dorothy Louise Sylran), in the lot next to that of his father (Col. William Pierce Evans [West Point Class of 1878]) and mother (Grace Vernon).
General Evans entered West Point Military Academy on 14 June, 1911, at the age of seventeen years, and graduated in 1915, along with General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General Omar Bradley (both 5 star generals). The class of 1915 was known as "The Class the Stars Fell On". Out of 164 members of the class, 59 were promoted to general - more than any other class. General Evans ranked 55 out of 164, while Ike ranked 61, and Bradly ranked 44.
General Evans was commissioned as Second Lieutenant of Infantry 12 June 1915. Commanding officer of 1st Machine Gun Battalion, 1st Division in AEF (1918). Instructor at the Infantry School, Ft. Benning, GA, 1920-1923. Entered the Command and General Staff School in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1926, along with Dwight D. Eisenhower. Out of a class of 245, Ike graduated first in the class, and General Evans was a Distinguished Graduate. Both Ike and General Evans entered the Army War College in Washington, D.C., on 27 August 1927, then graduated on 30 June 1928. Executive officer of 19th Brigade in the Canal Zone 1928-1931. Instructor at the Infantry School 1931-1935. Assistant professor of military science and tactics at Georgetown University 1935-1938. Graduated from the Infantry School Tank Course in 1939. Chief of the Infantry Tank School at Fort Benning 1940-1941. Commanding officer of 81st Tank Regiment, 5th Armored Division September 1941-July 1942. Combat Command Commander, 13th Armored Division 1942-1943. Promoted to Brigadier General in September 1942. Assigned to the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations in 1943 under General Joseph W. (Vinegar Joe) Stilwell until General Stilwell was recalled in October 1944. Deputy chief of staff, China-Burma-India Theater of Operations 1943-1944. Chief of staff, India-Burma Theater of Operations 1944-1945 (Received Distinguished Service Medal for this service). Promoted to Major General in January 1945. In February 1946, he became Theater commander (China-Burma-India Theater) until it's inactivation in May, 1946, then assigned to War Department Budget Division in Washington, D.C. In July, 1946, transferred to the office of the Army Comptroller in Washington. On June 10, 1948, appointed inspector general of the European Command at Berlin, Germany. From September, 1948 to June, 1951, he was Chief of the U.S. Military Mission with the Iranian Army. In November, 1952, he was appointed as a member of the Army Personnel Board, Office of the Secretary of the Army. Retired as Major General in January 1953. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal (for service in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations.
Mexican Service Campaign (1911-1919)/Pancho Villa Expedition (1916-1917)
From Month/Year
March / 1916
To Month/Year
February / 1917
Description The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa from March 14, 1916, to February 7, 1917, during the Mexican Revolution 1910–1920.
The expedition was launched in retaliation for Villa's attack on the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and was the most remembered event of the Border War. The declared objective of the expedition by the Wilson administration was the capture of Villa. Despite successfully locating and defeating the main body of Villa's command, responsible for the raid on Columbus, U.S. forces were unable to prevent Villa's escape and so the main objective of the U.S. incursion was not achieved.
The active search for Villa ended after a month in the field when troops sent by Venustiano Carranza, the head of the Constitutionalist faction of the revolution and now the head of the Mexican government, resisted the U.S. incursion. The Constitutionalist forces used arms at the town of Parral to resist passage of a U.S. Army column. The U.S. mission was changed to prevent further attacks on it by Mexican troops and to plan for war in the eventuality it broke out. When war was averted diplomatically, the expedition remained in Mexico until February 1917 to encourage Carranza's government to pursue Villa and prevent further raids across the border.
