Byron Albert Evans was born on October 17, 1917, in New York. During his early years, Byron attended schools in New York, Arkansas, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, and finally Minnesota, where he was graduated from high school. It was while attending the University of Minnesota that he definitely decided to make the army his career. He left the University in his second year and enlisted in the Regular Army at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he attended the Corps Area Preparatory School for West Point. In 1937 he took the competitive examination winning an Army appointment to the United States Military Academy. He graduated in the Class of 1942 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps and requested flight training, a request that was granted.
After primary flying school at Grider Field, Pine Bluff, Arkansas; basic at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas; and advanced at Foster Field, Victoria, Texas; he was graduated and entered the Air Corps as a pilot. He requested assignment to fighter aviation and was sent to Moore Field, Mission, Texas, for this training. Byron was promoted to First Lieutenant in February 1943 while at Moore Field, and it was here that he met Miss Mary Patricia Lohr of McAllen, Texas. They were married on February 5, 1943.
Shortly after, Byron and his wife were stationed at Trumbull Field, Groton, Connecticut, where he was assigned to the 360th Fighter Squadron of the 356th Fighter Group. He received final combat training in the P-47 aircraft, or Thunderbolt, with which his Group was equipped, and proceeded overseas in September 1943.
Byron participated in over fifty combat missions. He was promoted to Captain in October 1943 while serving as operations officer of his squadron.
Captain Evans was Killed in Action on February 11, 1944, on a bomber escort mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Aboard the P-47 #42-8507, he was last seen chasing an H. B. 109 in a vertical dive, entering a cloud layer at 6,000 ft. in the vicinity of San Quentin, France. Officially, Byron was carried as "missing in action" from February 11, 1944, until September 19, 1945, when a presumption of death was made by the Adjutant General. He is now buried in the Epinal American Cemetery, Dinozé, France.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, francecrashes39-45.net, www.americanairmuseum.com, www.westpointaog.org