WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - 2nd Lieutenant William Judson Bowen

 

2nd Lieutenant William Judson Bowen

After graduating from Hicksville High School in 1940, William went to both Miami University and Ohio State University for a while before enlisting into the Army Enlisted Reserve Corp on July 27, 1942. William enrolled as an aviation cadet in preflight school at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He had nine weeks of military, physical and academic training there.  By 1943, he was officially enlisted in the Army Air Corp.

Born on August 5, 1922, in Hicksville to William Mason and Katherine Jeanette (Gray) Bowen, he was their only son, and to most, he was "Billy." He married Jacqueline McCalla of 131 West High Street, Hicksville, the daughter of F.T. and Lyndall (Stahl) McCalla on July 27, 1944. She was 20, and he was 21, residing in Bryan and already an officer in the AAF. She was a student at Ohio University in Athens; he was a junior at Ohio State.

Their engagement was announced in the newspaper on January 2, 1943, with no wedding date set. William's father had tuberculosis and died on March 5, 1943, perhaps affecting their plans. They married in Defiance on July 27, 1944.

William trained in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in August 1943, and his mother went to visit him. He also went to San Angelo Army Airfield in Texas where he graduated as a bombardier and navigator. He was sent to the Mariana Islands and Japan.

On May 14, 1945, it appeared in the Bryan Democrat that Lt. William Bowen was missing in action and then found:

"Mrs. Jackie M. Bowen, wife of Lt. William Bowen, Hicksville, received a call informing her that her husband and other members of his plane crew are safe on an island between the Mariannas and Tokoyo, the call coming from the pilot's wife at Baton Rouge, La.

They had been reported missing on a B-29 flight in the Philippine-Japan area April 14. Lt. Bowen is a nephew of Mrs. Ford Ridenour of Bryan."

The pilot's wife was misinformed. William was MIA and would not be found until 1949.

The Bryan Times, September 19, 1949, p. 6:

"RELATIVES ATTEND RITES FOR VICTIMS OF 1945 BOMBER CRASH

"Impressive services were held on September 6 at Jefferson Memorial Barracks (National Cemetery), St. Louis, Missouri, for the late 2nd Lt. William Judson Bowen, ten crew brothers and a Flight Surgeon of a B-29 bomber.

The mission was heavy bombardment, destination Kawasaki, Japan. The bomber failed to return, and news came to the next of kin that all crew members were missing in action . No definitive word came until April this year.

Following the surrender of Japan, it was learned that an American B-29 aircraft crashed at Higash-Trae-cho, Tsurumi kn, Kanagawa Prefecture, Hourshu, Japan, in the vicinity of the Soji Temple, on the 16th of April 1945; and that all crew members were killed.

The wreckage of the aircraft was identified by finding the identification bags and personal articles, learning the names of crew members of this plane.

Mrs. William M. Brown of Columbus, O., Mrs. C. N Pederson of Oak Park, Ill., and Mrs. Fred Ridenour of Bryan, Ohio, attended the services. The services were both Catholic and Protestant and the folding of the flag and the presentation to Mrs. Bowen by Major Sable of Scott Fields, Park Ridge, Ill. was most impressive.

Upon her return to Bryan, Mrs. William M. Bowen received the final tributes to her son, the following list of decorations: Air Medal with Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart for having made the supreme sacrifice for his country, World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Marksman Badge with pistol bar, Aviation Badge Bombardier, District Unit Emblem, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars for participation in the air offensive in Japan and the Western Pacific campaign.

Left to mourn Lieut. Bowen are his son, William Judson Bowen of Hutchison, Kansas; his mother, Mrs. William Bowen, aunt and uncle- Mr. and Mrs. Ford Ridenour and aunt and uncle  Mr and Mrs. John Bowen, and other aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends."

*His wife had remarried and did not attend. 

Dianne Kline, Researcher