Student teaching is going pretty well. I had my first observation today and survived. Please pray for the Evan's family especially his parents and our church family, pray for hearts to be soft and not hardened and for at least one to come to know Christ through Billy's death. My heart has been very heavy with sorrow this week.
NEW MILFORD — Family members hugged one another. Soldiers patted one another on the back. Everyone tried, many unsuccessfully, to choke back tears.
Soldiers, family members and friends gathered Wednesday to mourn the loss of Spc. William Evans Jr., who was killed in Iraq on Monday when a bomb exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
The 2002 Blue Ridge High School graduate and Hallstead resident died a week after his 22nd birthday.
“He was full of life and definitely had an infectious personality,” said Cadet Andrew Park, a close friend of Spc. Evans who had known him since sixth grade. “You couldn’t help but love the guy. He was doing what he loved.”
Spc. Evans is the first member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry to die in Iraq. Spc. Evans, of Charlie Company, had been in Iraq since June for a one-year tour of duty.
He was one of three Pennsylvania soldiers killed Monday morning when their convoy was attacked in Ar Ramadi in the volatile Al Anbar province, said Maj. Steve Zarnowski.
The attack killed three soldiers in their Humvee — Sgt. Michael Egan, 36, of Philadelphia, Spc. William Fernandez, 37, of Reading, and Lt. Mark Dooley, of the Vermont National Guard — and Spc. Evans in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. They were on a routine patrol.
The soldiers were assigned to the state Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. All three will be awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.
The 2nd Brigade Combat Team includes more than 4,000 soldiers from 31 states, including many soldiers from the Scranton area and across Northeastern Pennsylvania. The state Guard makes up the largest portion of the team with 2,100 soldiers.
“These are very difficult times for all of us gathered here today,” Maj. Zarnowski told friends and family at a press conference. “No words can express the loss we feel for the Evans family and for the Pennsylvania National Guard.”
Seventy-three Pennsylvania service members have been killed since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, including 14 from the state Guard. Family members, some of whom had to step away from the crowd at times, declined to speak with the media.
Spc. Evans is survived by his father, mother, younger brother and an older sister.
Friends described Spc. Evans as an outgoing man with a talent for making others laugh and a passion for photography.
Spc. Evans had worked at Craige’s Photique in Montrose since high school and had a job waiting there for him upon his return.
“He loved photography,” said co-worker Linda Abbott, her eyes shining with tears. “He had so much life in him. He had big plans.”
Sgt. First Class James Ditchey said he had known Spc. Evans since he recruited him his senior year of high school. The two became fast friends, he said.
“He was a long-haired guy who liked to take photographs,” Sgt. Ditchey said of his impression upon meeting Spc. Evans for the first time, “but he turned into a super soldier, a soldier everyone counted on and really did like and love.”
Michael Ostrowski, Spc. Evans’ friend and 12th-grade English teacher, also recalled the young soldier’s passion for photography, saying he used to show him his photographs after class. Mr. Ostrowski said Spc. Evans was a student in the first class he ever taught at Blue Ridge.
He said it was difficult getting through the day Wednesday after learning of his student’s death Tuesday. Mr. Ostrowski said some seniors, who were freshmen when Spc. Evans was a senior, also took the news hard.
Spc. Evans ran track and was a member of the band and chorus in high school, said high school principal John Manchester.
“Just to know somebody you know pretty closely, especially a young man in his prime killed, it’s very shocking,” Mr. Ostrowski said. “Any time something happens in an area as small as Blue Ridge, everyone knows everybody. Everyone’s connected in one way or another.”
Many of Spc. Evans fellow soldiers knew each other even before joining the Guard. Spc. Evans’ company consists of about 90 men, mostly from Susquehanna County, said First Sgt. Paul Gunnels.
“Most of these young fellows grew up together and it hits them hard,” First Sgt. Gunnels said. Ms. Abbott’s daughter, Jen Abbott, said Spc. Evans was a close friend who liked to dish out some good-natured teasing and go to the movies on weekends. She said he had a lot of friends and spent most of his free time with them.
Jen Abbott said Spc. Evans’ close friends are devastated. She said one of his friends literally hit the floor crying when she broke the news to her.
“He was a good guy,” Jen Abbott said. “He was a good friend.”
Contact the writer: lschencker@timesshamrock.com
