As can be seen from the date of death, this was a very early WW2 action in which the USS Pillsbury was sunk by Japanese cruisers. The Pillsbury and 2 other ships were sunk in the same area at the same time. No records surfaced until Japanese records were found after the war ended. The ABMC site lists the declared dead date of Nov. 2, 1945.
The group consists of Evans' posthumous officially engraved Type 1 Purple Heart as made by the US Mint, named and undated posthumous Good Conduct medal, Victory medal with Fleet bar, Asiatic/Pacific medal, American Campaign medal, and American Defense medal;plus photos of Evans. Also included in its shipping tube is the pothumous Presidential Accolade for "Arnold Napoleon Evans" with reference to the Pillsbury; auto signed by Harry Truman. Accompanying the group is the short titled presentation case in its shipping box. The pamphlet "Personal Affairs of Naval Personnel and Aid for Dependents" is included, which was probably sent home.
Information from Ancestry.com shows that Evans was living in Dimmit, Texas in 1930 at the age of 9, which would put his birth date at about 1920.
F2c Evans was a regular Navy man who entered the Navy on April 17, 1940. He was stationed on the USS Saratoga, CV-3, at least during the period November, 1940 through March 31, 1941 as shown in Navy Muster rolls. His accompanying Naval Training Course Certificate dated November 28, 1940 and signed by Commander G. Morgan, commanding USS Saratoga. This shows his promotion to Seaman 1st Class, indicating that he was on the Saratoga at the time.
His bio can be found at the following web page which pre dates this entry:
http://www.heroesforever.nl/Arnold%20N.%20Evans.htm
The complete history of the Pillsbury, including details of the sinking by Japanese cruisers, can be found at:
http://www.destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/usspillsbury/index.html
See the Posthumous Purple Heart on this site to F1C Carl Fairbanks who was also on the Pillsbury when it was sunk.
SOLD to a collector 04-2021
