Evelyn Darst was born to Guy Darst and Blanche Allison Darst on April 22, 1919, in Knoxville. She graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1940, where she was the first woman editor of the Tennessee Volunteer, the school’s yearbook. During the summers, she worked for the society section of the Knoxville Journal. Following graduation she moved to Deepwater, New Jersey, to work for the Ethyl Corporation. In August 1943, she joined the United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. While in the service, she married Giles C. Belmont. She was honorably discharged in October 1945 and, after World War II, worked as technical editor for the Atomic Energy Commission in Oak Ridge. Evelyn Darst Belmont died on December 11, 1990, in Kingsport.
Knox County Archives, located on the second floor of the East Tennessee History Center, is proud to honor those who have served our country in the armed forces by preserving the history of their service. Team members at Knox County Archives are digitizing military discharges (military form DD-214) that were registered in Knox County, Tennessee. These permanent records represent every conflict from the American Civil War through the Vietnam War and reveal a great deal about a veteran’s service. This biographical and historical information may not exist in any other form due to a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973; it destroyed an estimated 80% of United States Army discharges from World Wars I and II. Using these rare and important DD-214s, Knox County Archives hopes to share the stories of some of East Tennessee’s veterans.
If you have questions about accessing the DD-214s registered in Knox County, please call 865-215-8800, email archives@knoxlib.org, or visit Knox County Archives at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St., Knoxville, TN 37902.
Research by Zachary Keith, County Archives Digital Assistant
