“Don’t forget, Captain Evans, your men aren’t looking to you for ‘leadership’; they’re looking to you, depending on you, to get them back home.”
Colonel Faye Upthegrove, 99th BG Commander, Navarian Airfield,
Algeria, March 1943
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Meet The Authors
Colonel Richard Ernest Evans
Richard Ernest Evans was born in Knoxville, TN, in 1919, where he spent his childhood participating in the Boy Scouts of America, drilling in the Knoxville High School ROTC, learning to fly with the Tennessee Air National Guard, and visiting the Smoky Mountains with his three brothers, “Pug”, Tom and John, and his parents, William and Helen.
In his third year at the University of Tennessee, Richard was accepted to Flying Cadet School and enlisted in the U.S. Army in December, 1939. It was during this training that he earned the nickname “Richard Eager”. In January, 1943, Captain Evans entered combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, as a pilot in the 99th Bomb Group. Over the next two years, Captain Evans flew 54 missions in North Africa, Italy and other German-held territories in Europe, and one mission in Japan. He piloted various planes, most notably the Theresa Leta B-17E “Flying Fortress”, which was “won” by General Montgomery in a bet and in which the famous Field Marshal was flown by Captain Evans on many occasions. Major Evans witnessed the end of the war in Okinawa, working alongside General LeMay.
Richard married JoAnn Nelson in San Antonio, TX, in 1944. After WWII, Richard left active duty, joined the California Air National Guard, and began a career in life insurance, working with the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. However, at the start of the Korean War, Lt. Colonel Evans was recalled to active duty as a Deputy Director of Operations for the USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC). During the Cold War, he was promoted to Colonel and commanded the B-58 test squadron. Upon leaving active duty in 1959, Richard worked with North American Aircraft Company and later consulted on the development of the B-1 and C-54. Over the course of his military career, Colonel Evans piloted a range of planes including the B-17 “Flying Fortress”, B-24 “Liberator”, B-25 “Mitchell”, B-29 “Superfortress”, B-47 “Stratojet”, B-52 “Stratofortress”, and B-58 “Hustler”.
Richard, or “Dick” as he was lovingly called by friends and family, wrote poignant letters, clever poems and personal reflections all his life. With the encouragement of his children, Dick began writing down his boyhood memories and war stories in the last decades of his life. In a letter that is now included in the preface of this book, Dick described his intentions: “Conceived as the Twentieth Century is coming to an end, this book is written for interested and concerned young people, anxious to understand and reflect upon the kind of world they are inheriting. It is also for older folks: those who, though they may be fading, find joy and pride in recalling the young people they once were.”
Richard “Eager” Evans passed away in June, 2006, and was buried with full military honors in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. He is survived by his daughter, Barbara, and his son, Donald.
Barbara Evans Kinnear
Barbara “Bobbie” Kinnear graduated from Texas Christian University in 1967 with a BS degree in nursing science. She continued her medical career with specialties in pediatric burn care and worked as the operating room and recovery room supervisor for South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach and later the Director of Nursing at the Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic.
Barbara has served on various nonprofit boards, including Santa Barbara Visiting Nurses Association, Junior League of Santa Barbara, The Garden Club of Santa Barbara, National Charity League of Santa Barbara, Westmont College Foundation Board, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
As a proud “Air Force brat”, Barbara lived in many states throughout her childhood. Today, she is grateful to call California home. She has lived in Santa Barbara with her husband, John, since 1973. They have one daughter, Katie.
Her father, Colonel Richard Ernest Evans, instilled a deep love of family and history in Barbara from a young age. In the preface to this book, she writes, “Throughout my childhood, my brother and I would listen to our father’s accounts of his flying and travels. In my adulthood, his stories took on greater detail as he revisited memories and friendships long past and recounted his childhood upbringing with fondness. He was a wonderful storyteller.”
Barbara is honored to share her father’s words—honest, humorous and heartfelt—through the publication of this book. She hopes her father’s stories will add a bit to history and encourage others to tell their stories as well.
A bet between WWII commanders.
An American plane and a British General. An Eagle Scout from Tennessee and one of the greatest leaders of the Allied Forces. This is the story of how a young Captain Richard Evans became the B-17 "Flying Fortress" pilot for Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the British 8th Army, during his missions throughout North Africa and Italy. Over the deserts of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, a rocky but honest and respectful friendship formed between the young American pilot and his British Commander. Evans and "Monty" flew together during a particularly dangerous phase of the war, as the Allied forces began to turn back the brutal Axis armies that had invaded North Africa and were closing in on Egypt in an effort to gain control of the strategically vital Suez Canal. Filled with humor and humility, Evans’ recollections of cadet training, combat missions and experiences with the “top brass” bring the realities of being a World War II pilot into a deeply human focus.
Woven throughout the chapters, Evans interrupts his personalized telling of war to recall youthful years and pivotal childhood moments with friends and family and as a Boy Scout in the Smoky Mountains. Nicknamed for his over eagerness as a cadet, “Richard Eager” shares his stories with great optimism for the future and poignant reflections on growing up. This is the story of a close family told lovingly by one of its five sons, four of whom would live to serve in and survive the Second World War. It is also a glimpse of Middle American lives in the nineteen twenties, thirties, and forties, seen through the eyes of a young man coming of age between the Great Wars.
This book includes a chronology of Colonel Evans’ life milestones and WWII details, his own glossary of war terms defined with humor, an appendices of original family letters, historic V-Mail, award commendations and primary source documents that shed light on his personal and professional relationships, joys, and fears. Iconic restored photographs of Tennessee boyhood years and WWII military planes and service, including maps illustrating the countries over which he flew, add to the book’s historical additions. An epilogue summarizing Colonel Evans’ Strategic Air Command service after WWII is also included.
Charity Donations
100% of revenue from the sale of the “Richard Eager” book is donated to the Air Force Aid Society.
The Air Force Aid Society is the Air Force non-profit corporation organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes in support of Air Force members and families. The selection of this charity is twofold. Firstly, Colonel Richard Evans recognized pilots would never have gotten off the ground or returned home safely without the help of their entire crew, the ground crew and a huge range of supporting staff. He also knew firsthand the dedication and sacrifice of Air Force families.
“He would be proud to know that his words are contributing to the aid of those helped by the Air Force Aid Society.”
Secondly, Colonel Frank “Mick” J. McKeown, DMD, the brother-in-law of Barbara Evans Kinnear, has served on the Board of Trustees of the Air Force Aid Society for many terms. Mick’s support and guidance has been invaluable to the development this book and this charity selection is a token of the “Richard Eager” team’s gratitude to Mick and to all those veterans who continue to serve long after their active duty ends.