Evans, William Anthony
Army Sergeant

William Anthony Evans, age 20, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, March 2, 1969

Death details:  On March 2, 1969, eleven members of a U.S. Army reconnaissance team embarked on a combat mission in Cambodia. They departed the landing zone and approached their objective, but enemy forces ambushed them. One Soldier was wounded, and the team retreated to elevated ground in the vicinity of grid coordinates 48P XT 415 935, where they formed a defensive perimeter.  As the enemy continued to close in, the team called in a friendly gunship to provide air support. As soon as the gunship departed, the enemy attacked again. An enemy rocket exploded directly over their position, wounding eight of the team members, two fatally. The team members then left the area, but were unable to evacuate the two dead Soldiers, whose bodies were still in their fighting positions when it was overrun by the enemy.

Sergeant William Anthony Evans, who joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin, served with the 5th Special Forces Group and was a member of this reconnaissance team. He died of wounds suffered when the rocket exploded over the team’s position, and could not be evacuated at the time. His remains were not recovered. Today, Sergeant Evans is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com