John Bowman was born in 1915 in Richmond, VA. He was the son of a railroad engineer and married the daughter of a railroad engineer, Melba Christine Shropshire. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech) in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. John, sometimes called "Bob", was commissioned in the US Army Air Corps in 1938. During the war years, 1st Lieutenant Bowman flew the workhorse of the Army Air Corps, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Depending on where you were at the time, the C-47 was also known as the "Gooney Bird", "Dumbo", "Skytrooper" and several other less affable epithets. Lt. Bowman flew several missions in North Africa including supply and troop transport as well as supporting the USO. As the forces entered Europe through Italy, Lt. Bowman dropped Army paratroopers, towed gliders and flew several missions in support of the Yugoslav Partisans. Following the war, Bowman did a short stint with TWA, returning to active service with the US Air Force in 1947. After flying a desk in the Pentagon through 1951, Major Bowman was transferred to Germany. In 1953 LTC Bowman flew in Operation Kinderlift, a cold war effort to bring West Berlin children to the West German countryside for a summer respite. Returning to the US, LTC Bowman was assigned to HQ Air Defense Command In Colorado Springs for two years, then assigned as the commander of the 4050th Armament and Electronics Maintenance Squadron in Westover AFB, Mass. In addition to his command, he flew both KC-97 Air-Refuelers and the C-47. In 1961 he transferred to Turkey to become the Commander of the Jupiter Missile Maintenance Training Squadron until 1963. He then processed for retirement from Keesler AFB near Biloxi, Miss. LTC Bowman and his wife, Christine, retired to Winter Park Florida where he died in 1975. Married for 35 years, John and Christine had a daughter and three sons.