Timeless Youth

Letters from a young airman, Ensign William Evans, USN.

Excerpts from "A Dawn Like Thunder - The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight" by Robert J. Mrazek. A gift from my youngest son and his family. I recommend the book.

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"December 7, 1941

My dear family,

What a day -- the incredulousness of it all still gives each new announcement of the Pearl Harbor attack the unreality of a fairy tale. How can they have been so mad? Though I suppose we have all known it would come sometime, there was always that inner small voice whispering -- no, we are too big, too rich, too powerful, this war is for some poor fools somewhere else. It will never touch us here. And then this noon that world fell apart.

Today has been feverish, not with the excitement of emotional crowds cheering and bands playing, but with the quiet conviction and determination of serious men settling down to the business of war. Everywhere little groups of officers listening to the radio, men hurrying in from liberty, quickly changing clothes, and reporting to battle stations. Scarcely an officer seemed to know why we were at war and it seemed to me there is certain sadness for that reason. If the reports I've heard today are true, the Japanese have performed the impossible, have carried out one of the most daring and successful raids in all history. They knew the setup perfectly -- got there on the one fatal day -- Sunday -- officers and men away for the weekend or recovering from Saturday night. The whole thing was brilliant. People will not realize, I fear, for some time how serious this matter is, the indifference of labor and capital to our danger is an infectious virus and the public has come to think contemptuously of Japan. And that I fear is a fatal mistake. Today has given evidence of that. This war will be more difficult than any was this country has ever fought.

Tonight I put away all my civilian clothes. I fear the moths will find them good fare in the years to come. There is such finality to wearing a uniform all the time. It is the one thing I fear -- the loss of my individualism in a world of uniforms. But kings and puppets alike are being moved now by the master -- destiny.

It is growing late and tomorrow will undoubtedly be a busy day. Once more the whole world is afire -- in the period approaching Christmas it seems bitterly ironic to mouth again the timeworn phrases concerning peace on earth - goodwill to men, with so many millions hard at work figuring out ways to reduce other millions to slavery or death. I find it hard to see the inherent difference between man and the rest of the animal kingdom. Faith lost -- all is lost. Let us hope tonight that people, all people throughout this great country, have the faith to once again sacrifice for the things we hold essential to life and happiness. Let us defend this principle to the last ounce of blood -- but then above all retain reason enough to have "charity for all and malice towards none." If the world ever goes through this again -- mankind is doomed. This time it has to be a better world.

All my love,

Bill"


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A letter written to a Wesleyan professor:


"The Fates have been kind to me. In a war where any semblance of pleasure is, to say the least, bad taste, I find many things that would please you. When you hear others saying harsh things about American youth, know how wrong they all are.

So many times now that it has become commonplace, I've seen incidents that make me know that we are not soft or bitter; perhaps stupid at first, but never weak. The boys who brought nothing but contempt and indifference in college -- who showed an apparent lack of responsibility -- carry now the load with a pride no Spartan ever bettered.

Many of my friends are now dead. To a man, each died with a nonchalance that they would have denied was courage. They simply called it lack of fear, and forgot the triumph. If anything great or good is born of this war, it should not be valued in the colonies we may win or in the pages historians will attempt to write, but rather in the youth of our country, who never trained for war, rather almost never believed in war, but who have, from some hidden source, brought forth a gallantry which is home-spun it is so real.
I say these things because I know you like and understood boys, because I wanted you to know that they have not let you down. That out here, between a spaceless sea and sky, American youth has found itself and given itself so that at home the spark may catch, burst into flame and burn high. If the country takes theses sacrifices with indifference it will be the cruelest ingratitude the world has ever known ...

My luck can't hold out much longer, but the flame goes on and on -- that is important. Please give my best wishes to all of the family, and may all you do find favor in God's grace.

Bill "

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And this from the same book:

"Bill Evans never knew which Japanese pilot killed him. He probably would have wanted the chance to write down what those last seconds were like, the sounds of the screaming engine, the flashing images, the colors of the tracer bullets hammering into his fuselage. But he would never have the opportunity. At twenty-three, he had run out of time. A hint of smoke temporarily marked the place where he went into the sea. A few moments later, it disappeared."




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I did not include the above in my blog to make anyone sad. Rather, to honor a young warrior who was brave and who could certainly turn a phrase. One way to honor him would be to compare his generation of youth to today's. Is there in fact much difference between this span of several generations? Are our current youth not as brave? As patriotic? As proud of their country as their forefathers?

R.I.P. Ensign Evans. A hero of the Battle of Midway