Frank Evans Jr

Captain Fred Barrett Evans Jr.

1914-2002

Descended from a long line of military men and American patriots, Fred Barrett Evans Jr. was a gentle hero who courageously served his country, receiving Silver and Bronze Stars for his actions during World War II.

Captured by the Japanese at Bataan, Evans remained a prisoner of war for almost four years. Despite his terrible ordeal, Evans was able to endure and survive. Certainly marked by his experience, he remained a man of quiet strength and dignity, returning home after the war to begin a new life, marry and raise a family.

Evans was born in 1914 in Dawson, N.M., a coal mining and railroad company town owned by Phelps Dodge in the foothills of northern New Mexico. His father, Dr. Evans, was one of four surgeons that ran the hospital caring for miners and railroad workers. In 1917, Dr. Evans joined the war effort, serving as head surgeon at army field hospitals in France and Germany. After the war, the family moved to Alamogordo, where his father established a medical practice and Evans attended school.

Despite the fact that the military was deeply embedded in his family history, Evans was unaware that his New England forebearers were noted in the annals of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. But service to his country ran deep. He graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in 1935 as a 2nd Lieutenant of the Cavalry Reserve and went on to the University of New Mexico where he was pre-med. In 1940, he was called to active duty and trained in horse cavalry warfare at Fort Bliss. In July 1941, he was sent to Fort Stotsenburg in the Philippines as a 1st lieutenant in the 26th Cavalry Regiment, a unit consisting mostly of Philippine Scouts. The 26th Cavalry was the last U.S. regiment to engage in horse-mounted warfare. Sometimes referred to as “America’s Colonial Army,” the Philippine Scouts were part of the United States Army and consisted of Filipino enlisted men commanded by American officers.

On December 7, 1941, the world changed with the attack on Pearl Harbor. The 26th Cavalry was the first to enter into combat with Japanese landing forces. On December 22, Evans, as platoon commander, led his troops to a strategic position at the foot of the hills overlooking Damortis where his men heroically engaged a large enemy force, successfully inflicting heavy casualties against the enemy. He was later to receive a Silver Star, the citation reading, “by his inspiring leadership, great personal bravery and devotion to duty, Lt. Evans made a noteworthy contribution to the defense of the Philippine Islands during a critical period of the war.” Over the next four months, Evans would distinguish himself in combat, earning the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Achievement.

But the Japanese forces were strong and despite their efforts, the U.S. Army was forced to surrender at Bataan on April 9, 1942. Evans and his troop were in the Bataan hills and managed to evade the Japanese and the infamous Death March for a time but were eventually captured by a mountain group. He was forced to walk a day and a half to get to a collection station and was then transported to Camp O’Donnell. Stated Evans of the camp’s infamy, “It was all true. We had neither food nor water and housing and care were all that horrible.” Conditions were terrible; there was one hydrant to supply the camp with water and disease and malnutrition was rampant. Each day an estimated 50 to 75 American and 200 to 300 Philippine prisoners died.

In June 1942, Evans was moved by train to Cabanatuan Prison Camp. Steel boxcars, intended to hold about 40, were each packed with 100 men, the 150-mile trip sometimes lasting six days. According to Evans, “If somebody died, he fell out the bottom of the car.” Conditions in Cabanatuan were marginally better than Camp O’Donnell and the prisoner doctors were able to somewhat stem the disease and death rate. Nonetheless, disease in the camp was rampant -- everyone was suffering from dengue fever, scurvy, pellagra, beriberi, and dysentery.

In order to provide slave labor for the war effort, the Japanese began transferring prisoners of war from the Philippines to Japan. On November 6, 1942, Evans was loaded on the Nagato Maru, one of the Japanese “hell ships” -- unmarked Japanese freighters used to transport the POWs. Hundreds of men were crammed into the dark holds of cargo ships so tightly that they could not sit or lay down. Again, food and water were scarce, sanitary facilities were virtually non-existent, and the heat in the closed holds of the ships was unbearable. The voyage lasted 19 days; they arrived in Moji on Thanksgiving Day, 1942. Of the 1,500 men on board, 200 could not walk off the ship and 80 died soon thereafter.

Evans was moved to Osaka Umeda Bunsho Prison Camp located a few blocks from Osaka’s main railroad terminal. There he was put to work moving lumber, scrap iron, coal and metal ores. That winter was particularly severe and the prisoners were ill equipped for the weather. According to Evans, “That winter we lasted only because of miracles. We worked; we shoveled coal, carried heavy packages on our shoulders and did plenty of work. Only miracles saved us from that winter.” Another Umeda Bunsho POW from the winter of 1942, Walt Cadmus, estimated that 30% of the camp either died or were beaten to death over the winter months.

In April 1943 Evans was transferred to the Zentsuji Prisoner of War Camp on an island off of Tokyo Bay where he remained until June 1945. Zentsuji was a “show camp” for propaganda purposes and primarily housed officers. Here he began receiving better treatment, a few Red Cross supplies, and the first letters from home. Evans was able to send postcards to his parents with encrypted messages assuring his family that he was the author of the messages.

In June of 1945, with the end in sight, the Japanese moved American officers out of Zentsuji to Roku Roshi, a new camp high in the remote mountains of western Japan near Fukui. Here conditions reached a new low. Food was scarcer than ever and accommodations were crowded, bug-infested, dark and primitive. Stated Evans, “There we were put to work on the side of a hill to make our own food for survival. No more Red Cross parcels and certainly with the bombings we saw and heard nightly we didn’t expect to live through the summer. It was strictly sod houses, sod roofs.” To further worsen the morale, the prisoners were much more isolated at Roku Roshi, without sources for outside information.

The prisoners were unaware of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They did not know the war had ended until August 22nd. On the morning of September 2, 1945, three B-29s, or as Evans referred them, “Candy Clippers,” dropped 55-gallon drums filled with food, medicine, clothing and cigarettes and a note telling them to stay put. A small unit of the U.S. Cavalry liberated the POWs six days later. The former prisoners were transported to Ono by truck then via train to Fukui and onward to Yokohama in trains -- not boxcars this time.

The liberated men were transported home via Hawaii where they remained for several weeks of rest and recuperation. Evans returned home in October 1945 and remained at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso for several months recovering from severe malnutrition and beriberi. Returning to his home community of Alamogordo, N.M., he put the war years behind him, seldom speaking of his experiences. Yet he wanted to continue in military service.

In 1948 Evans was appointed Captain and he served as an instructor of intelligence at Ft. Riley, Kansas until 1951 when he retired.

Evans was one of the lucky ones -- by the time Japan surrendered, the 26th Cavalry had lost 20 out of 28 officers and 80% of the enlisted men were killed or missing in action.

In addition to a strong will to live, Evans was lean and physically fit, having been raised with a daily early morning run.

As an officer, he was not always required to do physical labor but he did nonetheless, often netting a small ration of rice or other food. When the prisoners would receive Red Cross packages with cigarettes, he would trade them for food. He understood the importance of staying strong in order to survive.

Leaving behind his time in the Pacific and moving forward with his new life, Evans married Frances Nell Dale, a local beauty descended from pioneer stock. Their daughter, Becky Lea Evans, was born in 1956 and he relished family life. In later years, he and Frances traveled the country in their RV, visiting friends and family. Fred Evans died peacefully at home on September 20, 2002 at the age of 88. It was only after his passing that family members discovered much of this information.