In His Own Words: Tom Evans Keeps History Alive As a WWII Memorial Tour Guide

I’m pleased to participate in this effort. Too little is known about WWII; after all, it was over 80 years ago. It was the most barbaric war in history with an estimated 50,000,000 killed.

When I talk to older visitors I might tell them about the Marine, covered with mud and blood, attempting to bathe after four days of storming Saipan; how he had to push bodies aside to get to clear water.

With students, I tell them about rationing, two pair of shoes a year, meat and sugar coupons, etc. How their mother is working in a defense plant riveting and welding, and their father digging up the backyard to plant a Victory Garden. Sometimes I even sing WWII songs such as, “White Cliffs of Dover,” “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition,” and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.”

I point out the more than four thousand stars on the Memorial wall, each representing a hundred deaths that also reflect the heartbreak of millions of wives, parents, children, and friends that learn from a telegram that a loved one no longer exists.

Along with all that there is humor. I tell them about my friend Tommy Thompson, who was assigned to Radio Tokyo, creating what is now known as Godzilla. Using the technique of Orson Welles, of interrupting a broadcast, caused the Tokyo police to be alarmed and the Army sending five truckloads of soldiers to intercept whatever it was that was headed for Tokyo.  Tommy later became the producer of the Lucille Ball Show.

I encourage them to view the wonderful joy in a video of “VJ Day Honolulu” where I rode in a jeep in downtown Honolulu, throwing firecrackers everywhere. We’re going home! We’re going home!

Read more about the life and times of Alexandria’s Tom Evans.