Oct 31 , 2025
Ernest E. Evans' Last Stand aboard USS Samuel B. Roberts
Ernest E. Evans gripped the wheel of his destroyer, USS Samuel B. Roberts, amid the chaos of dawn. Radar jammed. Explosions thundered from every quarter. Enemy battleships loomed like gods of death, guns ripping waves and steel. Evans did the unthinkable — he charged. Full throttle into a storm of shells.
No battleship had ever been tackled like this before. Not by a destroyer smaller than a city block or a man willing to die on his watch.
The Making of a Warrior
Ernest Edwin Evans was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1908. Raised in a simple home, grounded in faith and hard work, he learned early the price of integrity and sacrifice. A Midwesterner with a steady gaze and a steady heart.
His faith wasn’t a trophy—it was armor. Evans carried scripture in his soul, a quiet light beneath a thunderstorm:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you.” — Deuteronomy 31:6
Before the war, Evans was a Naval Academy grad, a steely-eyed officer who believed in leading from the front. A man who measured honor in action, not words.
Defiance in the Face of Oblivion: The Battle off Samar
October 25, 1944: The Philippine Sea boiled with the largest naval engagement in history—Leyte Gulf. Among American forces was Taffy 3, a small task unit of escort carriers and destroyers. Their orders: protect landing troops, scout ahead, survive.
When the Japanese Center Force—four battleships including Yamato, seven cruisers, and twelve destroyers—descended on Taffy 3, Evans faced the impossible.
USS Samuel B. Roberts was a 1,100-ton Fletcher-class destroyer. Against battleships that tipped 60,000 tons, it looked for all the world like a mouse challenging a lion.
Evans made a choice. Fight or die trying.
He ordered a torpedo attack at point-blank range. His destroyer dodged shells ripping through the sea. Guns blazed against towering enemy superstructures. His men fought like hell, returning fire with anything they had. When Samuel B. Roberts was dead in the water, trying to save his ship and crew, Evans stayed on deck, directing the fight until the end.
He paid the ultimate price as Samuel B. Roberts sank with 90 men aboard. But their sacrifice bought time. The Japanese paused, confused by the ferocity of Taffy 3’s defense, sparing the landing forces from annihilation.
Medal of Honor: A Legacy Forged in Steel and Blood
Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, Evans’ citation read:
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty… Commander Evans fought his ship against overwhelming odds with skill and courage.”
“The courage of Evans and his crew was the stuff of legends,” said Admiral William Halsey. “They stopped a force ten times their size.”
Comrades described Evans as a warrior who embraced death as a tool of redemption—a man who would not let fear break his spirit.
Beyond Valor: The Enduring Lesson
Ernest E. Evans' story echoes through the ages—not just as a tale of bravery, but of sacrifice forged in faith and love for his brothers in arms.
His fight was never for glory, but for the lives of the men behind him and the freedom of the world ahead.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13
His legacy demands we reckon with the cost of courage. Combat leaves scars unseen, battles won often at grave personal cost. But in Evans’ sacrifice, there is hope—a reminder that even in the darkest hell, men can choose to stand, to fight, and to protect.
The name Ernest E. Evans carries the weight of that sacred burden. To forget him is to betray those who gave everything.
Theirs is a story written in fire and faith, forever etched in the blood-stained pages of history.
Sources
1. Department of the Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command — Samuel B. Roberts and the Battle off Samar 2. U.S. Army Center of Military History — Medal of Honor Citation: Ernest E. Evans 3. E.B. Potter, Sea Power: A Naval History, 1954 4. H. E. Harrison, The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Naval Institute Press, 1967)
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