Lawrence Gerald Evert |
| Posted 2009-12-26 by Pat Wilson |
| Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Gerald Evert, of Chandler, formerly of Cody, Wyoming, passed away serving his country during the Vietnam War. In September 1958, he married Wanda May Johnson of Chandler, AZ. They met while attending Brigham Young University where he had joined the Air Force ROTC program. He graduated in 1960 from BYU and the Air Force ROTC program as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and lived a great life of service to God, his family and country. In 1967, he was called to serve his country in Vietnam as an F-105 Thunderchief pilot and was stationed at Talkli AFB in Thailand. He was shot down during a bombing mission north west of Hanoi in North Vietnam on November 8, 1967 and was declared missing in action. This tragedy occurred within hours before he was to fly home for the birth of his fourth child, Elizabeth, who was born five days after he was shot down. The Vietnam war ended without any proof that Jerry had been a prisoner of war and he was officially declared killed in Action in 1978. He was promoted posthumously to Major and Lt. Colonel during the years he was MIA. In October 2000, the Evert family was notified that a possible crash site was located and excavation would begin in November 2000. The family was also notified that President Clinton was going to visit the crashsite, and eventually Jerry's two Sons, Dan and David, were invited and did accompany the President to the site on Nov 18, 2000. Three excavations took place in Nov 2000, Feb 2001, and July 2001. Capt Lawrence G. Evert's remains, wallet with ID, both dog tags, LDS ID tag, and other personal effects were recovered from amongst the airplane wreckage. Each of Jerry's four children and two grandchildren were fortunate to visit the excavation site and witness the work and effort to locate a missing soldier in Vietnam. The Evert family attended the repatriation ceremony at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii as his remains were repatriated to American soil. The Central Identification Lab (CILHI) concluded the identification of the remains and Air Force casualty notified the Evert family that they could prepare for burial in Jan 2002. He is survived by his wife, Wanda Evert Allen of Chandler; children, Dan Evert of Chandler, David Evert of Woodland, CA, Tamra Brown of Fort St. John, BC, Canada, and Elizabeth Dempsey of Gilbert; his brother, Doug Evert; sisters, Jan Briggs, Marianne Stamm, Diana Tolson and Joyce Rowberry; and 14 grandchildren. The Evert family wishes to offer their deep thanks and appreciation to President Clinton, the Department of Defense DPMO team, the Joint Task Force Full Accounting (JTFFA), Central Identification Lab of Hawaii (CILHI), Air Force Casualty, and the hundreds of Vietnamese citizens who participated in the excavation work for their support and sacrifices in their effort to find every MIA possible. Services with military honors Saturday, July 6, 2002, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1950 W. Galveston (corner of Galveston and Dobson) in Chandler, Arizona. Interment with full military honors from Luke Air Force Base Honor Guard will follow the funeral at City of Mesa Cemetery. Bueler Mortuary made the local arrangements. The Arizona Republic July 4, 2002 See Also: Find-A-Grave |
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