‘Her voice is strong’: Helena veteran, Presidential Citizens Medal recipient dies at 79

There’s a statue of three uniformed women and a wounded man in Washington, D.C.

One nurse cradles the wounded soldier, a hand clasped over his injury and a solemn look on her face. Another looks to the sky, one palm on the first nurse’s arm as she stands guard. A third kneels with a helmet in her hand.

During the Vietnam Women’s Memorial location dedication, the statue’s main advocate, Diane Carlson Evans, stood humbly in the face of her many accolades, retired Army Col. Ray Read remembered. It was where they first met.

Hailing from Buffalo, Minnesota, but making Helena her latest home, Carlson Evans was a smart, kindhearted woman who sought to care for the needy, whether it was on the front lines or back home where they served American Legion Post 2 together, Read said.

It had taken years for that statue to be completed, first approved by Congress in 1988 and completed in 1993, but it was far from the end of Carlson Evans' advocacy, Read said. She'd take on veteran homelessness and healthcare, and she seemed tireless and focused through it all, he noticed.

“Her voice is strong,” Read said.

Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse and lifelong veteran advocate, died May 20 at 79 years old after battling cancer.

Carlson Evans began her service in the Army in 1968, tending to the wounded at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku, Vietnam, and the 36th Evacuation Hospital’s burn unit in Vung Tau. Women didn't need to serve, she'd say to Congress during her push for the memorial, but she volunteered "believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms."

When she returned to the United States, she struggled with the things she had seen.

Much of her life afterward was defined by a fierce determination to aid veterans and recognize the women of war who were too often overlooked, including the Red Cross volunteers, administrators and photographers.

"How proud I was of those many women I served with!" Carlson Evans wrote in a message from the Vietnam Women's War Memorial Foundation, titled "Dare To Dream." "Yet, as the nation dedicated memorials to Vietnam veterans across the country, very few recognized the vast and essential role of women. I knew that the nation could not forget them and began to dream of adding a statue portraying women’s strength, compassion, courage, and service on the hallowed ground of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Many others agreed, and together we founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project in 1984."

“Because of Diane, countless women veterans finally received the recognition they so deeply deserved and saw themselves reflected in our Nation’s history for the very first time,” nonprofit Military Women’s Memorial wrote on social media. “It is our privilege to preserve and share Diane’s story of service, ensuring future generations will know and remember her story, her courage, and her unwavering dedication to those who served our Nation.”

Her service would be applauded on a national stage, even reaching the Oval Office when she was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal on Jan. 2, 2025, by then-President Joe Biden.

"Her duty and devotion embody the very best of who we are as Americans," the White House said in a news release at the time.

"I knew I was nominated for the award, but I didn't think I would get it," Carlson Evans told the Independent Record shortly after. "I was overwhelmed."

After her service, Carlson Evans made the Queen City her home with her husband, Mike Evans, a doctor she’d met and fallen in love with at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where they both once worked. She and Mike have been "part of Helena for years," Read said.

On Feb. 24, 2025, the Helena City Commission celebrated Diane Carlson Evans Day in her honor, packing the Commission chambers with flower-bearing attendees.

“On behalf of my sister veterans,” Carlson Evans told commissioners after she accepted the award. “It’s they who deserve the recognition and honor.”

Cmdr. Kenneth Rosenbaum, who headed American Legion Post 2 and was a fellow Vietnam War veteran, said it made him emotional when Carlson Evans was celebrated.

It’s hard to forget the brutal injuries his comrades suffered, he said. In those same memories, he remembered the nurses fighting to keep them alive.

“It’s like visiting a cemetery,” he said after the city’s celebration. “Not the grief, but the memories. Seeing Diane honored today … she deserves it. This is a day to celebrate her and everyone she represents.”

Beyond her service, Carlson Evans is remembered by her homemade jam and love for her family, her obituary says. A perfect day for her, so she said, was spent outdoors by a lake, where loons called and the kids played.

Carlson Evans is preceded in death by grandson Wyatt Michael Evans; parents Newell and Dorothy Carlson; and brothers Chester, Ronald and Ward Carlson. She is survived by her husband Mike; children Guy, Luke, Carrie and Jon-Erik; grandchildren Azaria, Maisie, Kacie, Kai-Biko, Revy and Nora; her brother, Maynard Carlson; and sister, Nola Nilsson.

In lieu of flowers, her family requested mourners thank a veteran for their service and invite them to share their story, or to donate to an organization supporting community veterans.