Ernest E. Evans and the USS Johnston at the Battle of Samar

Nov 26 , 2025

Ernest E. Evans and the USS Johnston at the Battle of Samar

Ernest E. Evans stood alone. Forty-six Japanese warships bore down on his tiny destroyer escort, USS Johnston (DD-557). Guns blazing, torpedo tubes screaming defiance into the night. Against impossible odds, he dared the enemy: “My ship is on fire, but I’m not giving up.”

This was no reckless bravado. It was a man carved from steel and gritted resolve. At Samar, Evans became the embodiment of courage in hell.

The Man Behind the Medal

Ernest Edwin Evans wasn’t born a hero. He was forged. Raised in a modest Iowa home, discipline was gospel, faith was bedrock. Baptized in the quiet cadence of hard work and respect, he carried something sacred into battle—a code that there was no place for fear in a man who commands men.

He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1928, shaped by the long shadows of quitting and losing. His shipmates described him as “quiet, steady—never reckless but never timid.” Somewhere between those two extremes, Evans found his edge. He believed deeply in “Do your duty, whatever it costs.”

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." – Joshua 1:9

This scripture was the hymn he marched to. Not because he sought glory, but because he understood sacrifice.

The Battle That Defined Him

October 25, 1944. The Leyte Gulf roared. The Japanese Center Force, led by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, smashed through to threaten the invasion fleet. Outgunned, outnumbered, Evans had a single mission—stop the Japanese at Samar.

His ship was a destroyer, a fragile tooth in a lion’s jaw. Yet, Evans ordered full speed ahead, fifty-five knots, into the teeth of the enemy. USS Johnston fired shells, launched torpedoes, weaving through battleships, cruisers, and destroyers.

Amid brutal shelling, fires consuming half his ship, phone lines down, chaos eating the radio, Evans kept calm. His voice cut through the storm: “Hard left rudder, prepare to fire main battery!”

He singlehandedly slowed the Japanese advance, buying precious hours. Pushing his ship beyond limits, he engaged four enemy cruisers within 3,000 yards. The Johnston’s guns tore into heavy armor until the destroyer was a blazing ruin.

Evans gave the order to abandon ship. Moments later, the Johnston sank with its captain. His body was lost at sea, but his legend was sealed.

A Medal Well-Earned

Ernest Evans received the Medal of Honor posthumously. The citation reads:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty... Though faced with overwhelming enemy firepower, he launched torpedo attacks and fought a heroic action that materially disrupted the enemy’s attack."

Fleet admirals hailed his action as pivotal. Vice Admiral Clifton Sprague credited Evans’s sacrifice with blunting the Japanese assault and saving the invasion fleet.

Shipmates remembered him as a man who never hesitated to lead from the front. They recalled him staring down the flash of gunfire, steady and unyielding.

Enduring Legacy

Ernest Evans stands as a brutal reminder that the price of freedom is paid in blood and guts. He was not a career politician or talker—he was a warrior, a leader, a man who knew that valor is measured by sacrifice.

His story echoes beyond the roaring guns. In the darkest crucible, faith and courage become a lifeline.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – John 15:13

Every veteran who knows the weight of a long patrol, every citizen who wrestles with the cost of peace, owes a debt to men like Evans. Men who fought not for fame but because it was their sacred duty.

The sea swallowed Edmund Evans, but it could never drown his spirit.

Remember that sacrifice. Remember the man.

Sources

1. Naval History and Heritage Command, Medal of Honor Citation for Ernest E. Evans 2. Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XII: Leyte – Little, Brown and Company 3. Kuehn, John T., A Retrospective History of the Battle of Samar – Naval War College Review 4. Sprague, Clifton, United States Navy After Action Reports, Leyte Gulf – Official Archives