Kermit Evans has services ahead of burial at Arlington

HOLLANDALE, Miss. - Kermit Evans Jr., the 13-month-old son of an Air Force captain killed in Iraq, broke free from his uncle's arms during a memorial service for his father and pointed to photograph of the airman in a poignant moment witnessed by hundreds.

Throughout the service on Saturday for Capt. Kermit Evans Sr., family members struggled to keep his restless son in their laps.

Evans Jr. wanted to run around the Simmons High School gymnasium, playing on the same wood floor where his father had graduated third in the class of 1993.

Evans Sr. died Monday in a helicopter crash in Iraq.

Kervin Evans said his brother was a fun-loving character who was full of life, and he wants people to remember him as someone who believed in reaching high.

"I think that's probably one of the biggest things that his passion and his life represent. He never gave up on his dreams no matter how many roads it took," he said. "He kept pushing until he could figure them out."

A Starkville woman said Evans made a lasting impact on her family. While a student at Mississippi State, Evans became a Big Brother mentor to Letha Coleman's 13-year-old son, Ibrahim.

"I was a single parent so he became a father figure for my son and a brother to him," Coleman said. "After Kermit came into our lives, his grades improved. He just sailed on. All through school Kermit was there to help him when I didn't know what to do or what to say."

Kermit Evans joined the Air Force in 2001 and with his chemical engineering degree from Mississippi State in hand, became an explosives expert.

Lt. Col. Steve Woods presented the Bronze Star to Evans family Saturday. Evans was the head of the bomb squad at the 27th Civil Engineer Squadron, Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. and was deployed with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Balad Air Base, Iraq.

He was serving his second tour in Iraq.

Evans, 31, was one of four servicemen who drowned after the U.S. Marine Corps CH-46 helicopter he was riding in made an emergency water landing in western Al Anbar Province.

Evans survivors include his parents, Margaret and Charles Evans who are both retired teachers from Hollandale; and his widow, Perneatha Evans.

From the Sun Herald

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