THE WALL OF FACES

Captain Paul Barkley Bowman, Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. May you rest in eternal peace.

Captain Paul Barkley Bowman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism and extraordinary achievement while engaged in aerial flight. He served as a Chemical Combat Service Support Officer and was assigned to HHC, DIV SPT CMD, 25TH INF DIV.
See https://army.togetherweserved.com/army

About 10:00 AM on January 31, 1970, a U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H (tail number 68-15462) from B Company, 25th Aviation Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, was conducting a visual reconnaissance mission seven miles southeast of Thien Ngon Airfield in Tay Ninh Province, RVN, when the crew learned that friendly forces in the area had come under intense enemy fire. The aircraft responded by volunteering to fly over the hostiles and drop tear gas on their positions. Despite the intense enemy fire, the aircraft continued to make low-level passes over the hostile positions, silencing several of them until it was hit by small arms fire and crashed. The helicopter was totally destroyed when it exploded and burned on impact. Four crewmen and three passengers were killed in crash. The lost crew included aircraft commander CW2 Ronald J. Fulton, pilot 2LT Michael L. Arrants, crew chief SGT Jerald D. West, and gunner SGT John T. Rodgers; the lost passengers were CPT John L. Beek, CPT Paul B. Bowman, and CPT Jerry D. Denny. Beek, Bowman, and Denny were Chemical Combat Service Support Officers from Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), Division Support Command, 25th Infantry Division. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, vhpa.org, and CPT Beek’s Distinguished Flying Cross citation; also from the 25th Aviation Battalion S2/S3 Log for January 31, 1970]

DEAR CAPTAIN PAUL BOWMAN,
THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A CHEMICAL COMBAT SERVICE SUPPORT OFFICER. TODAY IS ARMED FORCES DAY. MEMORIAL DAY IS APPROACHING, BUT ON ALL DAYS WE SHOULD HONOR YOU. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.