Evan E. Lewis – Colonel, United States Army

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LEWIS, EVAN E.
(First Award)
Colonel, U.S. Army
102nd Infantry Regiment, 26th Division, A.E.F.
Date of Action: September 26, 1918

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Evan E. Lewis, Colonel, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Marcheville, France, September 26, 1918.

Being second in command of the assaulting troops, Colonel Lewis (then a major) displayed great bravery and rare initiative.

While under terrific artillery and machine-gun fire he reorganized scattered units, established and organized positions in depth, set up liaison from front to rear, and in hand-to-hand fighting personally led his men, inspiring in them a confidence and tenacity of purpose that were productive of success.

LEWIS, EVAN E.
(Second Award)
Colonel, U.S. Army
102nd Infantry Regiment, 26th Division, A.E.F.
Date of Action: November 10, 1918

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Evan E. Lewis, Colonel, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Beaumont, France, November 10, 1918.

Colonel Lewis, commanding his regiment, personally led the advance of his front line, under a heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, and gained the absolute confidence of his troops by his example of courage and coolness.

COLONEL EVAN E. LEWIS, STAFF OFFICER, DIES
Succumbs Suddenly to Heart Attack, at 46, in His Quarters at Fort Hamilton
War Hero in World War
Decorated By United States, France and Italy for Services Overseas
Formerly at Presidio

BROOKLYN, New York, November 1, 1932 – Lieutenant Colonel Evan E. Lewis, Assistant Chief of Staff of the First Division of the Regular Army, who was stationed at Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn, dropped dead in his quarters there late yesterday afternoon.  A physician on the reservation declared he had evidently died of a heart attack.  He was 46 years old.

Colonel Lewis has spent most of the earlier afternoon in Manhattan.  He returned to the upper floor of the two-family house occupied by himself and his wife about 5 P.M.  Mrs. Lewis was also away during the afternoon and had not returned when Colonel Lewis entered the house.  Occupants of the lower floor said they heard a thud a short time after Colonel Lewis entered his quarters and he was found dead when his wife returned a few minutes later.

Colonel Lewis was born in the territory of Dakota, before its admission to Statehood, on November 24, 1885.  He was graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in 1907. In the 1924 he was graduated from the Infantry School Advanced Course and in 1930 he was graduated from the Army War College in Washington.

Colonel Lewis had a brilliant military career in France during the World War, when he was honored by several governments and decorated for gallantry in action.  At the outbreak of the war he held the rank of Major and went to France in an infantry regiment of the Twenty-Sixth Division.  During his service in France he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, reverting to his former rank after the Armistice.  He was made a Lieutenant Colonel on May 1, 1931.

For bravery during the Aisne-Marne Offensive Colonel Lewis received the Distinguished Service Cross, and later, during the Meuse-Argonne advance, he was decorated with the Oak Leaf Cluster, and additional D.S.C. honor, held only by a few service men.  In addition he received three Silver Stat Citations and the French Government awarded him a Croix de Guerre and a membership in the Legion of Honor.  He also won the Italian War Cross.

Colonel Lewis had been at Fort Hamilton for only four months, having been previously stationed at the Presidio in California.  He leaves his wife.

Burial will be in the National Cemetery in Arlington.

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