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“Heroes are no special people, they are
just regular persons, placed in a position of peril where they rise
above their fear to do the job assigned to them or what needs to be
done to gain success.” Cmdr. Ray Evans, 1998
Cmdr. Ray Evans was a writer, a self-proclaimed wordsmith, high
school basketball and football player with a glass jaw and no
affinity for boxing. He was also a Coast Guard hero and a great
friend to the late Medal of Honor Recipient Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro.
On
Sept. 18, 1939, 18-year-old Evans enlisted at a Seattle recruiting
station alongside Munro earning $21 a month as apprentice seamen.
This was the beginning of a deep friendship between the two future
Coast Guard heroes who became known as the “Gold Dust Twins”.
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Left - Ray Evans (18) on his enlistment day, Sept. 18, 1939. Right -
Ray Evans' award ceremony on May 29, 1943. His awards for his
heroics during World War II included the Navy Cross, Presidential
Unit Citation Ribbon with one battle star, Commandant's Letter, the
American Defense Service Medal with one battle star, American
Campaign Medal, the European-Africa-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five battle stars and the
Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal. (Image created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photos)
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Seven days into a routine of mowing lawns, cleaning up
and servicing aircraft at Air Station Port Angeles, Ray and
Munro volunteered to fill vacancies aboard Coast Guard
Cutter Spencer, then enroute on permanent change of station
orders from Valdez, Alaska, to Staten Island, New York. Both
Evans and Munro served aboard Spencer until early 1941
earning the Signalman 3rd Class rating during this time.
Before the war, the Coast Guard had no need of signalmen
during peacetime, but during wartime, the service brought
the rating back. This allowed Coast Guardsmen to be able to
communicate with the Navy through light signals and running
flags.
When word spread that men were needed aboard
Coast Guard-manned USS Hunter Liggett, Evans and Munro
pleaded with the executive officer of Spencer to allow them
to go. When a Marine Corps unit got trapped behind enemy
lines in Guadalcanal, Evans and Munro assisted in rescuing
the Marines when Munro was killed.
“We just did a
job,” recalled Evans in an interview in 1999. “We were asked
to take them over there, and we were asked to bring them
back off from there, and that's what we did. That's what the
Coast Guard does. We do what we're asked to do.”
After the war, Evans was awarded the Navy Cross,
Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon with one battle star,
Commandant's Letter, the American Defense Service Medal with
one battle star, American Campaign Medal, the
European-Africa-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five battle stars and
the Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal, among others.
He married his wife,
Dorothy and in 1943 was sought out and offered a commission
to become an officer in communications despite not having a
college degree.
“With only a high school education
and thanks to wartime conditions requiring extreme measures
to provide leadership, I was fortunate to be chosen to serve
in a commissioned status and to be retained with other
temporary service officers in the active duty commissioned
ranks,” said Evans in 2000. “I enjoyed every minute of my 23
plus years which included in excess of 12 years of sea
duty.”
Evans served in the Coast Guard, retiring as a
commander in 1962. He died May 30, 2013.
By U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Honings
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2015
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