William S. Evans

First Sergeant William Stanton Evans (July 16, 1910 - June 6, 1944) was a non-commissioned officer of the Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army during the Second World War. Evans was one of the 140 Toccoa men of Easy Company. Evans was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Simon Pegg.
Youth
Evans was born in July 16, 1910 in San Antonio, Texas to an Irish Catholic family. The Evans family moved to Houston when Evans was ten. He attended St. Thomas in Houston for high school and graduated in 1928. He then went to Texas A&M University with a major in petroleum production engineering. Evans married LaVon Ruth Hyett on June 20, 1935, and they divorced in June 11, 1940. Evans worked for the purchasing department of Harris Country, and then as an accountant there. When the war broke out, Evans worked as an accountant with Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation.
Military Service
Evans was eligible for deferment from military service because of his work with the shipbuilding company. However, he enlisted in 1942 because some of his brothers had joined the army, and he did not want his brothers who had children to be drafted. Evans's attendance at A&M counted as military service, therefore after enlisting he became a first sergeant right after in 1942.
Evans volunteered for paratrooper, and was sent to training at Toccoa, Georgia under Captain Herbert Sobel. He was one of the favorites of Sobel. One night at Camp Mackall, Evans and Sobel tried to steal the guns from Easy Company's men while they were asleep, but they got lost and ended up stealing the guns from the personnel of F Company. Evans did not participate in the Mutiny against Sobel initiated by Terrence Harris and Mike Ranney although most other sergeants did.
Evans was generally considered as unpopular among the men of Easy Company. For example Shifty Powers in his biography introduced Evans as 'the officer nobody like much'. Bill Wingett and Donald Malarkey had written about their conflicts with Evans. However, when Sergeant Leo Boyle got married in Aldbourne, Evans served as his best man. Sergeant Gordon Carson also considered Evans one of his buddies.
Evans flew on Plane #66 to Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. The plane was hit by German antiaircraft fire, went down and exploded. Everyone on board, including Evans and Easy Company Commander Lieutenant Thomas Meehan were killed. At first, Evans was considered missing in action; his family received the telegram confirming his death on November 11, 1944.
Burial
Evans' remains were returned to the States and were buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. His dog tag was found 44 years later in Normandy by a farmer.
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