EVANS, CLEVELAND JR.

Name: Cleveland Evans, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Marine Corps
Unit: A/3DMTBN, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 November 1945
Home City of Record: Hot Springs AR
Date of Loss: 13 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163650N 1072618E (YD601383)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Steven Heitman; Jimmy L. Watson (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 13, 1968, SP5 Heitman, Sgt. Evans, passengers, WO Jimmy
Watson, pilot, SFC Eugene Gubbins, PFC Larry Moore and Lt. Purda, crewmembers
and 4 unidentified passengers of the 101st Airborne Division were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (tail #67-17254) which proceeded north from Phu Bai airfield on a
logistics mission to Camp Evans, Republic of Vietnam. Evans was on the aircraft
on the first leg of a journey to Da Nang, to visit his brother, who was
stationed there.

About 3-5 miles southeast of Camp Evans, the helicopter was hit by enemy fire
and was forced to land. All 10 persons exited the aircraft and split into two
5-man teams in an attempt to evade to friendly lines.

Lt. Purda and the four 101st Airborne personnel walked into Camp Evans at 2000
hours. An intensive search was initiated, but failed to reveal any trace of the
aircraft or the 5 missing. On March 28, elements of the 1st Cavalry Division
found 2 bodies in a shallow grave in the area of the crash site. They were later
identified as those of SFC Gubbins and PFC Moore. The fates of the other 3
remained a mystery and the three were classified Missing in Action.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have convinced many authorities that
hundreds of Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia. The three
survivors of the helicopter crash on March 13, 1968 could be among them. They
also could be dead. Until the U.S. seriously pursues his fate, we may not know
with certainty what happened to Cleveland Evans.