Arriving here in early November, Private Evans joined a 52-member platoon for 16 weeks of combined basic training and instruction in his specialty, combat arms, as a cavalry scout, the soldier who does reconnaissance for his outfit.
Recruits were grouped into 50-member units (platoons) and organized into companies of 4 platoons each.
Platoon members had close contact with other platoon members, less contact with other platoons in their company, and even less contact with other companies.
Thanks to him, every member of the platoon returned safely.
Yet he was the only member of the platoon who survived the Somme.
The only degradation described is at the court-martial of one platoon member.
He was the fourth member of Second Platoon killed during nine months in the valley.
Another member of the platoon, Sgt Stuart Pearson, cleared a path for the helicopter to land.
He added that virtually every member of his platoon wound up in college, not jail, on return.
The spokesman added: "However, on this occasion three years ago, Prince Harry used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a highly popular member of his platoon.
(In "Tropic Thunder," however, the racial co-option is mocked mightily by the character played by Brandon T. Jackson, a member of the platoon who is black).
