Army Spc. Brian R. Bowman

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Brian R. Bowman, 24, of Crawfordsville, Ind.

Spc. Bowman was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died Jan. 3, 2010 in Ashoque, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit with multiple improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire. Also killed were Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf and Pvt. John P. Dion.

Bowman, who was a combat medic, and his fellow soldiers died Sunday in Ashoque, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with multiple improvised explosives devices and small arms fire.

The body of Bowman, a 2004 Southmont High School graduate, arrived Monday night at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. His wife, Casie Carter Bowman, went to Dover to receive her husband's remains.

Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, but a service might be held at Woodland Heights Christian Church in Crawfordsville. The Bowmans were married at the church on June 16, 2007. Casie Bowman's parents, Joe and Debbie Carter, are members of the church.

Bowman, who grew up in Waveland in Montgomery County, joined the Army in August 2006 and deployed to Afghanistan in May.

He is the first Southmont graduate to die in combat in Afghanistan.

"Brian was a great guy," said Chelsea Roberts, sister of Casie Bowman. "He was a hero to our country and to my sister.

"Everybody is sad. Until it hits home and happens to you, you can't understand."

Roberts said that Casie Bowman, 28, met Brian Bowman while they were working summer jobs. Casie Bowman teaches elementary school in Colorado Springs, Colo., Roberts said.

"The Army has treated my sister well," Roberts said. "I'm not sure when Casie and my dad will return." Roberts said her father, Joe Carter, was with her sister at Dover.

Brian Bowman and his friend, Darrin Presslor, were Southmont classmates. They joined the Army within months of each other. Presslor is stationed in Germany.

Presslor's grandmother, Lillian Presslor, said Brian Bowman will be missed. "The kids were together so much, it seems like he was part of our family," she said. "They camped together and did a lot of other things."

Southmont High School became a quiet place Monday after its principal announced to the faculty that one of their former students had been killed in Afghanistan.

It's a small school, with about 650 students, so many of the teachers knew Bowman. "You could just hear the air get sucked out of the room," said Brian Bartlett, the band director. The students were still on semester break.

Bartlett recalled that though Bowman was a skilled football player and a physical person -- 6 feet tall and stout -- he chose to spend his extracurricular time in the marching band. For three years, he played the baritone, a sort of mini-tuba, for the much-decorated Royal Mounties, perennial contenders in the Indiana State Fair's band competition.

I remember his final year with us we played 'The Light Eternal,' " Bartlett said. The piece is a tribute to four military chaplains killed during World War II. Bowman drove a red Chrysler convertible, which he loved as much as his baritone.
According to USA Today, 18 soldiers from Indiana were killed in Afghanistan before Bowman. The most recent was Dale R. Griffin, 29, Terre Haute, who was killed by a roadside bomb in October.

Army Spc. Brian R. Bowman was killed in action on 01/03/10.