May 26, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 98 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E482-E483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN HONOR OF HELEN HORLACHER EVANS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ANDY BARR

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 26, 2020

  Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Helen Horlacher 
Evans. Mrs. Evans was born in Fortville, Indiana on June 11, 1920 and 
will soon be celebrating her 100th birthday.

[[Page E483]]

  Mrs. Evans graduated from the University of Kentucky and began 
teaching home economics at Versailles High School. After conversations 
with fellow teachers about the newly formed Women's Army Auxiliary 
Corps, she joined the Army on a dare in 1942. She was in the first 
group of Kentucky women accepted for the WAC and at 21 years of age she 
was one of the youngest. She was accepted for the Officer Candidate 
School at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.
  Mrs. Evans was trained in army food service and served as the Office 
of the Quartermaster General inspector for stateside WAC mess halls. In 
early 1945 she was assigned to the European Theatre of Operations with 
the Office of the Quartermaster General outside Paris, France. At the 
end of the war she was working along the banks of the Rhine feeding 
German prisoners of war. Mrs. Evans earned the rank of Captain. Her 
experience as a WAC is documented as part of the Veterans History 
Project in the Library of Congress.
  Upon returning to civilian life, Mrs. Evans began work at the 
Veterans Administration in Louisville, KY, where she served as a senior 
training officer until 1951. She has served as a volunteer on many 
projects related to veterans, including serving as Kentucky's 
representative on the committee to establish the National Women's 
Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. She received the Spirit of 
Kentucky Award for Patriotism from the Kentucky Daughters of the 
American Revolution. In 2018, she was inducted into the Kentucky 
Veterans Hall of Fame.
  It is my honor to recognize this amazing patriot, celebrate her 100th 
birthday, and thank her for her service and sacrifice to our nation 
during World War II. As a part of ``The Greatest Generation'', Mrs. 
Evans was an important part of the war effort to preserve the freedoms 
that we enjoy today. I am forever grateful for Americans like Helen 
Horlacher Evans.

                          ____________________