12/3/2006
Capt Kermit O. Evans, 31, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer, was killed Dec. 3 in Iraq when a helicopter he was riding in made an emergency water landing in western Al Anbar Province. He was one of four servicemen who died in the accident.
Capt Evans deployed in July from the 27th Civil Engineer Squadron, Cannon AFB, New Mexico, to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Balad AB, Iraq. It was his second deployment.
At Balad, he was the operations officer for a new unit with the first ever Air Force weapons intelligence team in Iraq. According the wing’s commander, Capt Evans went out every chance he could to make sure that the teams had everything they needed and their jobs were getting done right. He was on his way back from visiting one of his teams when he died.
Capt Evans was a native of Hollandale, Mississippi. He left behind a wife, Pernetha, and son, Kermit Jr., a brother, Kervin, and his parents Charles and Margaret Evans, both retired teachers living in Hollandale.
In 2011, Cannon AFB renamed the street in front of the 27th CE Squadron building as Kermit Evans Avenue.
I never officially met Capt Evans, he arrived while I was deployed. I met his wife and son once at a basketball game he was playing in at the base gym. It saddened when I heard the news because I’d held his infant son at that game and I knew he would now have to grow up without his father. And now as a wife, I cannot imagine the pain she felt. Being back at Cannon for the 2nd time and seeing how the squadron has honored his memory is just amazing.