Amos Bowersock, age 91, of Linton, passed on Monday, April 13, 2015, at Greene County General Hospital in Linton. He was born in rural Worthington on April 18, 1923, the son of George and Mary Ann (Pruett) Bowersock. On Feb. 21, 1948 he married Barbara (Yates) Bowersock. Amos was in the 14th Army Air Force Flying Tigers for 6 years and was in the 2nd world war. He spent 3 years in the National Guard. He was a life member of the Worthington American Legion, as well as a life member of CBI. Amos was a member of UAW Bedford Indiana. He was a member of the Assembly of God. He has worked Local Union 1003 Indianapolis, as well as John A Coal Mine in Sullivan, Indiana. For most of his life he lived in the Worthington and Linton area.
He is survived by his wife and their 3 children, Linda Christine and George Rollins of Newberry, Brenda and Bill Rennels of Clinton, and Rick and Debra Bowersock of Worthington, sisters, Norma Crouse and Barbara Herman; Grandchildren, Misty and Eric Loy, Lori and Jerry Netherlain, Terri and Shawn Maxwell, Dustin and Paula West, Tina Jean, Leslie and Jeremy Sims, Brandy and Toby Echelberry, and Ashley and Jeremy Followell; great-grandchildren, Kaci and Kevin Hooks, Kalynn, Haley and Brianna West, Taylor and Lexi Netherlain, and Taylor, Tori and Brody Echelberry; and many nieces and nephews that he loved so much.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Glenn Bowersock; and siblings, Abe, Lorne, Dennis, Corrine, and John Bowersock, Beaulah Harris, and Georgia Shaw.
Funeral service will be held at Welch & Cornett Funeral Home Linton at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, April 17, 2015, with Rev. David Atkins officiating. Burial will follow at Worthington Cemetery, with military rites by the Worthington American Legion and VFW.
Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 4 – 8 P.M., and Friday from 11 A.M. until the time of service.
Memorial contributions can be made to Linton Assembly of God through the funeral home.
Online condolences can be sent at www.welchcornett.com. - See more at: http://www.welchcornett.com/displayobit1.aspx?callid=2216#sthash.drfDJt9o.dpuf
Brother - Loren E "Hap" Bowersock 12310363
Brother - John D. (Dennis) Bowersock 30601328
Sister - Beaulah Fay Bowersock Harris 17039173
Brother - Abe Bowersock, Sr 117487254
Sister - Corrine Bowersock 12837989
------------------------------------------------------
Other information about Amos, He also had no middle initial given at birth but would sometimes use "N" for "none" when middle was needed. His Theater story is listed in the
National Vetrans History Archive Project
Collection Information
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
Type of Resource:
Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview
Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document
Photograph: Digital print [2 items] -- Photographs
Contributor:
Larry Ordner
Contributor:
Richard Lugar
Contributor Affiliation/Organization:
U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
Collection #:
AFC/2001/001/35195
Subjects:
Bowersock, Amos N.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives
United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.
Cite as:
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
(AFC/2001/001/35195), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
War or Conflict
World War, 1939-1945
Military Status
Veteran
Dates of Service
1941-1947
Branch of Service
Army Air Forces/Corps
Unit of Service
303rd Bomb Group
Location of Service
China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Pacific Theater
---------------------------------------
Greene County Daily World Linton News
Linton veteran awarded Bronze Star
Friday, July 8, 2005
By Andrea McCann, staff writer
To you who answered the call of your country and served in its Armed Forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation. As one of the Nation's finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform. Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now look to you for leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace. ---- Harry S. Truman
Judging from the outpouring of people congratulating Amos Bowersock on receiving the Bronze Star this Fourth of July, the 82-year-old Linton resident took that note of thanks he received from the nation's 33rd president to heart.
Bowersock enlisted in the Army Air Force at the age of 17 in August 1941, a mere four months before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7 and the United States joined World War II. He served with the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers, hauling fuel in a double tanker.
The Bronze Star is conferred for meritorious service accomplished with distinction. Bowersock believes the medal was bestowed upon him for action taken on the trip from China back to the United States at the completion of his tour of duty.
"I got shanghaied in Shanghai," he began his story. "They told me I could go home if I re-enlisted, so I did."
Originally scheduled to fly home, the plans changed, and he was put on an aircraft carrier headed to Seattle.
"When I walked to the ship, everything was torn up where the B-24s and B-29s had bombed them," he continued. "I didn't like the whole set up."
On about the second or third day out to sea, Bowersock said, a bunch of the troops were playing poker on the hanger deck. A lone sailor sat atop the ship looking back at the wake. Bowersock wanted to watch the poker game, but he said something was bothering him.
"I started to go down and watch, but my inner spirit told me to go up," he said.
The young soldier went to the front of the ship and looked out to sea.
"I saw we were headed toward a mine," he said. "It was close.
"I went over and punched the sailor. He had communication equipment on, and he said something into the mic. It sounded like we reversed engines, and as we did, the ship turned to the right. We almost dipped water with it.
"The mine went right down the side of us. We pulled off about a quarter of a mile from the mine and shot at it for 10 or 15 minutes. When it exploded, it just shivered the water, shivered the ship. It was an awful explosion.
"The captain evidently recommended me for the Bronze Star, so after 60 years, I get awarded the Bronze Star."
Bowersock's sixth sense and sharp eyes saved the lives of many military men that day, and he was a hero to them. He said the captain sent guards with him when they got to Seattle. Laughing, Bowersock recounted their escapades having their photographs taken in a makeshift jail cell and with a whiskey bottle.
When he arrived back in Indiana by train, he discovered at Camp Atterbury that the Army had no record of him. His records had been lost. Eventually the problem was rectified. Then, in 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed 80 percent of the Army personnel records for people discharged between Nov. 1, 1912, and Jan. 1, 1960. Bowersock was discharged in 1949.
He came home to Greene County and met the girl who eventually became his wife. He worked as a construction millwright and spent 10 years at General Motors in Bedford.
"I never thought about medals," he said. "I worked and raised four kids."
It was one of those children, Rick Bowersock of Worthington, who discovered that his father had earned military medals he'd never received.
"I wasn't into medals too much," Bowersock said.
Besides the new Bronze Star, he's received the Good Conduct Medal, the China War Memorial Medal, and medals from the Asiatic Pacific Campaign and American Campaign.
The China War Memorial Medal was presented to Bowersock and others by the Chinese government "for heroic service in the China Theatre during World War II" many years after the fact. Bowersock's wife, Barbara, explained that the medals were to be given to the men when they were serving in China, but then the war ended. The men went home, and the medals were stored in an attic in a box until they were found many years later. The Bowersocks were invited to a ceremony in Chicago, where the medals were awarded.
There are two other medals he earned that are no longer made and distributed by the military, according to Barbara, who also said her husband only recently began to talk about his WWII days.
"I didn't want to talk about it then," he said. "I wanted to work and forget it."
He said he had too many "exciting" memories, but he said he doesn't mind talking about them so much now. One involves a burning plane.
"A C46 took off with a load of 100 octane gasoline," he said. "It just started to get off the ground good, and it started going down. It lost its engines and hit a Chinese hostel and caught fire. It blew up, and they couldn't get the doors open."
He said as he and a friend got the doors open, the men fell out of the plane.
"They were burnt black," he said.
Bowersock and the other soldier helped the men into their Jeep to take them to the hospital. But then an ambulance arrived, and the burned airmen got into it. The ambulance crashed before reaching the hospital, according to Bowersock. None of the men survived the two crashes, he said.
Another memory is of Chinese troops crossing a runway and being struck by three P51s taking off. He said one man was ripped right out of his shoes. The contents of another's head burst out.
One mission of the Flying Tigers was to keep the Burma Road open, because it was the last supply line to China. The planes had to fly over the Himalaya, the highest mountain ranges in the world. Bowersock had to know how much fuel it'd take to get a plane "over the hump," as they called it. Many didn't make it and are still occasionally found lodged in the side of the mountains. Bowersock said he hates to think he might've been responsible for any of those crashes. There were many extenuating circumstances, he said, such as the weather.
"It was an experience," he said about his service to his country. "I enjoyed it, and I didn't enjoy it.
"There were too many killings, too many dead."
The enjoyable part was the travel, Bowersock said. He got to see Australia, India and China. He saw the Great Wall of China and the Burma Road. The drawback was the sights like starving children and the stench of some of the cities.
"I enjoyed it when I was in the states," he said.
There, he spent time in Texas; New Mexico; Arizona; Idaho; California; Washington state; Washington, DC; and North Carolina.
At one time during his service, Bowersock had worked his way up to the rank of sergeant. But an unfortunate mishap involving the air brakes going out on his truck, causing him to crash into a plane, got him busted back to private first class.
"They kept wanting to give me rank again, but I didn't want more responsibility," he said, adding that he liked his Army job.
"We used to go to Flying Tigers meetings, and he thought he'd see someone he knew," Barbara said.
Finally, he met a man at a CBI (China-Burma-India) meeting who remembered him ---- because he didn't give him enough fuel to get over the hump when a storm came up, and he had to turn back.
Besides Rick, the Bowersocks also are the parents of Brenda Reynolds, Clinton; Christy Rollins, Newberry; and the late Glenn Bowersock.
---------------------------------------------------------
He is survived by his wife and their 3 children, Linda Christine and George Rollins of Newberry, Brenda and Bill Rennels of Clinton, and Rick and Debra Bowersock of Worthington, sisters, Norma Crouse and Barbara Herman; Grandchildren, Misty and Eric Loy, Lori and Jerry Netherlain, Terri and Shawn Maxwell, Dustin and Paula West, Tina Jean, Leslie and Jeremy Sims, Brandy and Toby Echelberry, and Ashley and Jeremy Followell; great-grandchildren, Kaci and Kevin Hooks, Kalynn, Haley and Brianna West, Taylor and Lexi Netherlain, and Taylor, Tori and Brody Echelberry; and many nieces and nephews that he loved so much.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Glenn Bowersock; and siblings, Abe, Lorne, Dennis, Corrine, and John Bowersock, Beaulah Harris, and Georgia Shaw.
Funeral service will be held at Welch & Cornett Funeral Home Linton at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, April 17, 2015, with Rev. David Atkins officiating. Burial will follow at Worthington Cemetery, with military rites by the Worthington American Legion and VFW.
Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 4 – 8 P.M., and Friday from 11 A.M. until the time of service.
Memorial contributions can be made to Linton Assembly of God through the funeral home.
Online condolences can be sent at www.welchcornett.com. - See more at: http://www.welchcornett.com/displayobit1.aspx?callid=2216#sthash.drfDJt9o.dpuf
Brother - Loren E "Hap" Bowersock 12310363
Brother - John D. (Dennis) Bowersock 30601328
Sister - Beaulah Fay Bowersock Harris 17039173
Brother - Abe Bowersock, Sr 117487254
Sister - Corrine Bowersock 12837989
------------------------------------------------------
Other information about Amos, He also had no middle initial given at birth but would sometimes use "N" for "none" when middle was needed. His Theater story is listed in the
National Vetrans History Archive Project
Collection Information
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
Type of Resource:
Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview
Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document
Photograph: Digital print [2 items] -- Photographs
Contributor:
Larry Ordner
Contributor:
Richard Lugar
Contributor Affiliation/Organization:
U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
Collection #:
AFC/2001/001/35195
Subjects:
Bowersock, Amos N.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives
United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.
Cite as:
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
(AFC/2001/001/35195), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
War or Conflict
World War, 1939-1945
Military Status
Veteran
Dates of Service
1941-1947
Branch of Service
Army Air Forces/Corps
Unit of Service
303rd Bomb Group
Location of Service
China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Pacific Theater
---------------------------------------
Greene County Daily World Linton News
Linton veteran awarded Bronze Star
Friday, July 8, 2005
By Andrea McCann, staff writer
To you who answered the call of your country and served in its Armed Forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation. As one of the Nation's finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform. Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now look to you for leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace. ---- Harry S. Truman
Judging from the outpouring of people congratulating Amos Bowersock on receiving the Bronze Star this Fourth of July, the 82-year-old Linton resident took that note of thanks he received from the nation's 33rd president to heart.
Bowersock enlisted in the Army Air Force at the age of 17 in August 1941, a mere four months before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7 and the United States joined World War II. He served with the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers, hauling fuel in a double tanker.
The Bronze Star is conferred for meritorious service accomplished with distinction. Bowersock believes the medal was bestowed upon him for action taken on the trip from China back to the United States at the completion of his tour of duty.
"I got shanghaied in Shanghai," he began his story. "They told me I could go home if I re-enlisted, so I did."
Originally scheduled to fly home, the plans changed, and he was put on an aircraft carrier headed to Seattle.
"When I walked to the ship, everything was torn up where the B-24s and B-29s had bombed them," he continued. "I didn't like the whole set up."
On about the second or third day out to sea, Bowersock said, a bunch of the troops were playing poker on the hanger deck. A lone sailor sat atop the ship looking back at the wake. Bowersock wanted to watch the poker game, but he said something was bothering him.
"I started to go down and watch, but my inner spirit told me to go up," he said.
The young soldier went to the front of the ship and looked out to sea.
"I saw we were headed toward a mine," he said. "It was close.
"I went over and punched the sailor. He had communication equipment on, and he said something into the mic. It sounded like we reversed engines, and as we did, the ship turned to the right. We almost dipped water with it.
"The mine went right down the side of us. We pulled off about a quarter of a mile from the mine and shot at it for 10 or 15 minutes. When it exploded, it just shivered the water, shivered the ship. It was an awful explosion.
"The captain evidently recommended me for the Bronze Star, so after 60 years, I get awarded the Bronze Star."
Bowersock's sixth sense and sharp eyes saved the lives of many military men that day, and he was a hero to them. He said the captain sent guards with him when they got to Seattle. Laughing, Bowersock recounted their escapades having their photographs taken in a makeshift jail cell and with a whiskey bottle.
When he arrived back in Indiana by train, he discovered at Camp Atterbury that the Army had no record of him. His records had been lost. Eventually the problem was rectified. Then, in 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed 80 percent of the Army personnel records for people discharged between Nov. 1, 1912, and Jan. 1, 1960. Bowersock was discharged in 1949.
He came home to Greene County and met the girl who eventually became his wife. He worked as a construction millwright and spent 10 years at General Motors in Bedford.
"I never thought about medals," he said. "I worked and raised four kids."
It was one of those children, Rick Bowersock of Worthington, who discovered that his father had earned military medals he'd never received.
"I wasn't into medals too much," Bowersock said.
Besides the new Bronze Star, he's received the Good Conduct Medal, the China War Memorial Medal, and medals from the Asiatic Pacific Campaign and American Campaign.
The China War Memorial Medal was presented to Bowersock and others by the Chinese government "for heroic service in the China Theatre during World War II" many years after the fact. Bowersock's wife, Barbara, explained that the medals were to be given to the men when they were serving in China, but then the war ended. The men went home, and the medals were stored in an attic in a box until they were found many years later. The Bowersocks were invited to a ceremony in Chicago, where the medals were awarded.
There are two other medals he earned that are no longer made and distributed by the military, according to Barbara, who also said her husband only recently began to talk about his WWII days.
"I didn't want to talk about it then," he said. "I wanted to work and forget it."
He said he had too many "exciting" memories, but he said he doesn't mind talking about them so much now. One involves a burning plane.
"A C46 took off with a load of 100 octane gasoline," he said. "It just started to get off the ground good, and it started going down. It lost its engines and hit a Chinese hostel and caught fire. It blew up, and they couldn't get the doors open."
He said as he and a friend got the doors open, the men fell out of the plane.
"They were burnt black," he said.
Bowersock and the other soldier helped the men into their Jeep to take them to the hospital. But then an ambulance arrived, and the burned airmen got into it. The ambulance crashed before reaching the hospital, according to Bowersock. None of the men survived the two crashes, he said.
Another memory is of Chinese troops crossing a runway and being struck by three P51s taking off. He said one man was ripped right out of his shoes. The contents of another's head burst out.
One mission of the Flying Tigers was to keep the Burma Road open, because it was the last supply line to China. The planes had to fly over the Himalaya, the highest mountain ranges in the world. Bowersock had to know how much fuel it'd take to get a plane "over the hump," as they called it. Many didn't make it and are still occasionally found lodged in the side of the mountains. Bowersock said he hates to think he might've been responsible for any of those crashes. There were many extenuating circumstances, he said, such as the weather.
"It was an experience," he said about his service to his country. "I enjoyed it, and I didn't enjoy it.
"There were too many killings, too many dead."
The enjoyable part was the travel, Bowersock said. He got to see Australia, India and China. He saw the Great Wall of China and the Burma Road. The drawback was the sights like starving children and the stench of some of the cities.
"I enjoyed it when I was in the states," he said.
There, he spent time in Texas; New Mexico; Arizona; Idaho; California; Washington state; Washington, DC; and North Carolina.
At one time during his service, Bowersock had worked his way up to the rank of sergeant. But an unfortunate mishap involving the air brakes going out on his truck, causing him to crash into a plane, got him busted back to private first class.
"They kept wanting to give me rank again, but I didn't want more responsibility," he said, adding that he liked his Army job.
"We used to go to Flying Tigers meetings, and he thought he'd see someone he knew," Barbara said.
Finally, he met a man at a CBI (China-Burma-India) meeting who remembered him ---- because he didn't give him enough fuel to get over the hump when a storm came up, and he had to turn back.
Besides Rick, the Bowersocks also are the parents of Brenda Reynolds, Clinton; Christy Rollins, Newberry; and the late Glenn Bowersock.
---------------------------------------------------------
Amos Bowersock, age 91, of Linton, passed on Monday, April 13, 2015, at Greene County General Hospital in Linton. He was born in rural Worthington on April 18, 1923, the son of George and Mary Ann (Pruett) Bowersock. On Feb. 21, 1948 he married Barbara (Yates) Bowersock. Amos was in the 14th Army Air Force Flying Tigers for 6 years and was in the 2nd world war. He spent 3 years in the National Guard. He was a life member of the Worthington American Legion, as well as a life member of CBI. Amos was a member of UAW Bedford Indiana. He was a member of the Assembly of God. He has worked Local Union 1003 Indianapolis, as well as John A Coal Mine in Sullivan, Indiana. For most of his life he lived in the Worthington and Linton area.
He is survived by his wife and their 3 children, Linda Christine and George Rollins of Newberry, Brenda and Bill Rennels of Clinton, and Rick and Debra Bowersock of Worthington, sisters, Norma Crouse and Barbara Herman; Grandchildren, Misty and Eric Loy, Lori and Jerry Netherlain, Terri and Shawn Maxwell, Dustin and Paula West, Tina Jean, Leslie and Jeremy Sims, Brandy and Toby Echelberry, and Ashley and Jeremy Followell; great-grandchildren, Kaci and Kevin Hooks, Kalynn, Haley and Brianna West, Taylor and Lexi Netherlain, and Taylor, Tori and Brody Echelberry; and many nieces and nephews that he loved so much.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Glenn Bowersock; and siblings, Abe, Lorne, Dennis, Corrine, and John Bowersock, Beaulah Harris, and Georgia Shaw.
Funeral service will be held at Welch & Cornett Funeral Home Linton at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, April 17, 2015, with Rev. David Atkins officiating. Burial will follow at Worthington Cemetery, with military rites by the Worthington American Legion and VFW.
Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 4 – 8 P.M., and Friday from 11 A.M. until the time of service.
Memorial contributions can be made to Linton Assembly of God through the funeral home.
Online condolences can be sent at www.welchcornett.com. - See more at: http://www.welchcornett.com/displayobit1.aspx?callid=2216#sthash.drfDJt9o.dpuf
Brother - Loren E "Hap" Bowersock 12310363
Brother - John D. (Dennis) Bowersock 30601328
Sister - Beaulah Fay Bowersock Harris 17039173
Brother - Abe Bowersock, Sr 117487254
Sister - Corrine Bowersock 12837989
------------------------------------------------------
Other information about Amos, He also had no middle initial given at birth but would sometimes use "N" for "none" when middle was needed. His Theater story is listed in the
National Vetrans History Archive Project
Collection Information
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
Type of Resource:
Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview
Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document
Photograph: Digital print [2 items] -- Photographs
Contributor:
Larry Ordner
Contributor:
Richard Lugar
Contributor Affiliation/Organization:
U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
Collection #:
AFC/2001/001/35195
Subjects:
Bowersock, Amos N.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives
United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.
Cite as:
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
(AFC/2001/001/35195), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
War or Conflict
World War, 1939-1945
Military Status
Veteran
Dates of Service
1941-1947
Branch of Service
Army Air Forces/Corps
Unit of Service
303rd Bomb Group
Location of Service
China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Pacific Theater
---------------------------------------
Greene County Daily World Linton News
Linton veteran awarded Bronze Star
Friday, July 8, 2005
By Andrea McCann, staff writer
To you who answered the call of your country and served in its Armed Forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation. As one of the Nation's finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform. Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now look to you for leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace. ---- Harry S. Truman
Judging from the outpouring of people congratulating Amos Bowersock on receiving the Bronze Star this Fourth of July, the 82-year-old Linton resident took that note of thanks he received from the nation's 33rd president to heart.
Bowersock enlisted in the Army Air Force at the age of 17 in August 1941, a mere four months before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7 and the United States joined World War II. He served with the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers, hauling fuel in a double tanker.
The Bronze Star is conferred for meritorious service accomplished with distinction. Bowersock believes the medal was bestowed upon him for action taken on the trip from China back to the United States at the completion of his tour of duty.
"I got shanghaied in Shanghai," he began his story. "They told me I could go home if I re-enlisted, so I did."
Originally scheduled to fly home, the plans changed, and he was put on an aircraft carrier headed to Seattle.
"When I walked to the ship, everything was torn up where the B-24s and B-29s had bombed them," he continued. "I didn't like the whole set up."
On about the second or third day out to sea, Bowersock said, a bunch of the troops were playing poker on the hanger deck. A lone sailor sat atop the ship looking back at the wake. Bowersock wanted to watch the poker game, but he said something was bothering him.
"I started to go down and watch, but my inner spirit told me to go up," he said.
The young soldier went to the front of the ship and looked out to sea.
"I saw we were headed toward a mine," he said. "It was close.
"I went over and punched the sailor. He had communication equipment on, and he said something into the mic. It sounded like we reversed engines, and as we did, the ship turned to the right. We almost dipped water with it.
"The mine went right down the side of us. We pulled off about a quarter of a mile from the mine and shot at it for 10 or 15 minutes. When it exploded, it just shivered the water, shivered the ship. It was an awful explosion.
"The captain evidently recommended me for the Bronze Star, so after 60 years, I get awarded the Bronze Star."
Bowersock's sixth sense and sharp eyes saved the lives of many military men that day, and he was a hero to them. He said the captain sent guards with him when they got to Seattle. Laughing, Bowersock recounted their escapades having their photographs taken in a makeshift jail cell and with a whiskey bottle.
When he arrived back in Indiana by train, he discovered at Camp Atterbury that the Army had no record of him. His records had been lost. Eventually the problem was rectified. Then, in 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed 80 percent of the Army personnel records for people discharged between Nov. 1, 1912, and Jan. 1, 1960. Bowersock was discharged in 1949.
He came home to Greene County and met the girl who eventually became his wife. He worked as a construction millwright and spent 10 years at General Motors in Bedford.
"I never thought about medals," he said. "I worked and raised four kids."
It was one of those children, Rick Bowersock of Worthington, who discovered that his father had earned military medals he'd never received.
"I wasn't into medals too much," Bowersock said.
Besides the new Bronze Star, he's received the Good Conduct Medal, the China War Memorial Medal, and medals from the Asiatic Pacific Campaign and American Campaign.
The China War Memorial Medal was presented to Bowersock and others by the Chinese government "for heroic service in the China Theatre during World War II" many years after the fact. Bowersock's wife, Barbara, explained that the medals were to be given to the men when they were serving in China, but then the war ended. The men went home, and the medals were stored in an attic in a box until they were found many years later. The Bowersocks were invited to a ceremony in Chicago, where the medals were awarded.
There are two other medals he earned that are no longer made and distributed by the military, according to Barbara, who also said her husband only recently began to talk about his WWII days.
"I didn't want to talk about it then," he said. "I wanted to work and forget it."
He said he had too many "exciting" memories, but he said he doesn't mind talking about them so much now. One involves a burning plane.
"A C46 took off with a load of 100 octane gasoline," he said. "It just started to get off the ground good, and it started going down. It lost its engines and hit a Chinese hostel and caught fire. It blew up, and they couldn't get the doors open."
He said as he and a friend got the doors open, the men fell out of the plane.
"They were burnt black," he said.
Bowersock and the other soldier helped the men into their Jeep to take them to the hospital. But then an ambulance arrived, and the burned airmen got into it. The ambulance crashed before reaching the hospital, according to Bowersock. None of the men survived the two crashes, he said.
Another memory is of Chinese troops crossing a runway and being struck by three P51s taking off. He said one man was ripped right out of his shoes. The contents of another's head burst out.
One mission of the Flying Tigers was to keep the Burma Road open, because it was the last supply line to China. The planes had to fly over the Himalaya, the highest mountain ranges in the world. Bowersock had to know how much fuel it'd take to get a plane "over the hump," as they called it. Many didn't make it and are still occasionally found lodged in the side of the mountains. Bowersock said he hates to think he might've been responsible for any of those crashes. There were many extenuating circumstances, he said, such as the weather.
"It was an experience," he said about his service to his country. "I enjoyed it, and I didn't enjoy it.
"There were too many killings, too many dead."
The enjoyable part was the travel, Bowersock said. He got to see Australia, India and China. He saw the Great Wall of China and the Burma Road. The drawback was the sights like starving children and the stench of some of the cities.
"I enjoyed it when I was in the states," he said.
There, he spent time in Texas; New Mexico; Arizona; Idaho; California; Washington state; Washington, DC; and North Carolina.
At one time during his service, Bowersock had worked his way up to the rank of sergeant. But an unfortunate mishap involving the air brakes going out on his truck, causing him to crash into a plane, got him busted back to private first class.
"They kept wanting to give me rank again, but I didn't want more responsibility," he said, adding that he liked his Army job.
"We used to go to Flying Tigers meetings, and he thought he'd see someone he knew," Barbara said.
Finally, he met a man at a CBI (China-Burma-India) meeting who remembered him ---- because he didn't give him enough fuel to get over the hump when a storm came up, and he had to turn back.
Besides Rick, the Bowersocks also are the parents of Brenda Reynolds, Clinton; Christy Rollins, Newberry; and the late Glenn Bowersock.
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He is survived by his wife and their 3 children, Linda Christine and George Rollins of Newberry, Brenda and Bill Rennels of Clinton, and Rick and Debra Bowersock of Worthington, sisters, Norma Crouse and Barbara Herman; Grandchildren, Misty and Eric Loy, Lori and Jerry Netherlain, Terri and Shawn Maxwell, Dustin and Paula West, Tina Jean, Leslie and Jeremy Sims, Brandy and Toby Echelberry, and Ashley and Jeremy Followell; great-grandchildren, Kaci and Kevin Hooks, Kalynn, Haley and Brianna West, Taylor and Lexi Netherlain, and Taylor, Tori and Brody Echelberry; and many nieces and nephews that he loved so much.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Glenn Bowersock; and siblings, Abe, Lorne, Dennis, Corrine, and John Bowersock, Beaulah Harris, and Georgia Shaw.
Funeral service will be held at Welch & Cornett Funeral Home Linton at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, April 17, 2015, with Rev. David Atkins officiating. Burial will follow at Worthington Cemetery, with military rites by the Worthington American Legion and VFW.
Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 4 – 8 P.M., and Friday from 11 A.M. until the time of service.
Memorial contributions can be made to Linton Assembly of God through the funeral home.
Online condolences can be sent at www.welchcornett.com. - See more at: http://www.welchcornett.com/displayobit1.aspx?callid=2216#sthash.drfDJt9o.dpuf
Brother - Loren E "Hap" Bowersock 12310363
Brother - John D. (Dennis) Bowersock 30601328
Sister - Beaulah Fay Bowersock Harris 17039173
Brother - Abe Bowersock, Sr 117487254
Sister - Corrine Bowersock 12837989
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Other information about Amos, He also had no middle initial given at birth but would sometimes use "N" for "none" when middle was needed. His Theater story is listed in the
National Vetrans History Archive Project
Collection Information
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
Type of Resource:
Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview
Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document
Photograph: Digital print [2 items] -- Photographs
Contributor:
Larry Ordner
Contributor:
Richard Lugar
Contributor Affiliation/Organization:
U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
Collection #:
AFC/2001/001/35195
Subjects:
Bowersock, Amos N.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives
United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.
Cite as:
Amos N. Bowersock Collection
(AFC/2001/001/35195), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
War or Conflict
World War, 1939-1945
Military Status
Veteran
Dates of Service
1941-1947
Branch of Service
Army Air Forces/Corps
Unit of Service
303rd Bomb Group
Location of Service
China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Pacific Theater
---------------------------------------
Greene County Daily World Linton News
Linton veteran awarded Bronze Star
Friday, July 8, 2005
By Andrea McCann, staff writer
To you who answered the call of your country and served in its Armed Forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation. As one of the Nation's finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform. Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now look to you for leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace. ---- Harry S. Truman
Judging from the outpouring of people congratulating Amos Bowersock on receiving the Bronze Star this Fourth of July, the 82-year-old Linton resident took that note of thanks he received from the nation's 33rd president to heart.
Bowersock enlisted in the Army Air Force at the age of 17 in August 1941, a mere four months before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7 and the United States joined World War II. He served with the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers, hauling fuel in a double tanker.
The Bronze Star is conferred for meritorious service accomplished with distinction. Bowersock believes the medal was bestowed upon him for action taken on the trip from China back to the United States at the completion of his tour of duty.
"I got shanghaied in Shanghai," he began his story. "They told me I could go home if I re-enlisted, so I did."
Originally scheduled to fly home, the plans changed, and he was put on an aircraft carrier headed to Seattle.
"When I walked to the ship, everything was torn up where the B-24s and B-29s had bombed them," he continued. "I didn't like the whole set up."
On about the second or third day out to sea, Bowersock said, a bunch of the troops were playing poker on the hanger deck. A lone sailor sat atop the ship looking back at the wake. Bowersock wanted to watch the poker game, but he said something was bothering him.
"I started to go down and watch, but my inner spirit told me to go up," he said.
The young soldier went to the front of the ship and looked out to sea.
"I saw we were headed toward a mine," he said. "It was close.
"I went over and punched the sailor. He had communication equipment on, and he said something into the mic. It sounded like we reversed engines, and as we did, the ship turned to the right. We almost dipped water with it.
"The mine went right down the side of us. We pulled off about a quarter of a mile from the mine and shot at it for 10 or 15 minutes. When it exploded, it just shivered the water, shivered the ship. It was an awful explosion.
"The captain evidently recommended me for the Bronze Star, so after 60 years, I get awarded the Bronze Star."
Bowersock's sixth sense and sharp eyes saved the lives of many military men that day, and he was a hero to them. He said the captain sent guards with him when they got to Seattle. Laughing, Bowersock recounted their escapades having their photographs taken in a makeshift jail cell and with a whiskey bottle.
When he arrived back in Indiana by train, he discovered at Camp Atterbury that the Army had no record of him. His records had been lost. Eventually the problem was rectified. Then, in 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed 80 percent of the Army personnel records for people discharged between Nov. 1, 1912, and Jan. 1, 1960. Bowersock was discharged in 1949.
He came home to Greene County and met the girl who eventually became his wife. He worked as a construction millwright and spent 10 years at General Motors in Bedford.
"I never thought about medals," he said. "I worked and raised four kids."
It was one of those children, Rick Bowersock of Worthington, who discovered that his father had earned military medals he'd never received.
"I wasn't into medals too much," Bowersock said.
Besides the new Bronze Star, he's received the Good Conduct Medal, the China War Memorial Medal, and medals from the Asiatic Pacific Campaign and American Campaign.
The China War Memorial Medal was presented to Bowersock and others by the Chinese government "for heroic service in the China Theatre during World War II" many years after the fact. Bowersock's wife, Barbara, explained that the medals were to be given to the men when they were serving in China, but then the war ended. The men went home, and the medals were stored in an attic in a box until they were found many years later. The Bowersocks were invited to a ceremony in Chicago, where the medals were awarded.
There are two other medals he earned that are no longer made and distributed by the military, according to Barbara, who also said her husband only recently began to talk about his WWII days.
"I didn't want to talk about it then," he said. "I wanted to work and forget it."
He said he had too many "exciting" memories, but he said he doesn't mind talking about them so much now. One involves a burning plane.
"A C46 took off with a load of 100 octane gasoline," he said. "It just started to get off the ground good, and it started going down. It lost its engines and hit a Chinese hostel and caught fire. It blew up, and they couldn't get the doors open."
He said as he and a friend got the doors open, the men fell out of the plane.
"They were burnt black," he said.
Bowersock and the other soldier helped the men into their Jeep to take them to the hospital. But then an ambulance arrived, and the burned airmen got into it. The ambulance crashed before reaching the hospital, according to Bowersock. None of the men survived the two crashes, he said.
Another memory is of Chinese troops crossing a runway and being struck by three P51s taking off. He said one man was ripped right out of his shoes. The contents of another's head burst out.
One mission of the Flying Tigers was to keep the Burma Road open, because it was the last supply line to China. The planes had to fly over the Himalaya, the highest mountain ranges in the world. Bowersock had to know how much fuel it'd take to get a plane "over the hump," as they called it. Many didn't make it and are still occasionally found lodged in the side of the mountains. Bowersock said he hates to think he might've been responsible for any of those crashes. There were many extenuating circumstances, he said, such as the weather.
"It was an experience," he said about his service to his country. "I enjoyed it, and I didn't enjoy it.
"There were too many killings, too many dead."
The enjoyable part was the travel, Bowersock said. He got to see Australia, India and China. He saw the Great Wall of China and the Burma Road. The drawback was the sights like starving children and the stench of some of the cities.
"I enjoyed it when I was in the states," he said.
There, he spent time in Texas; New Mexico; Arizona; Idaho; California; Washington state; Washington, DC; and North Carolina.
At one time during his service, Bowersock had worked his way up to the rank of sergeant. But an unfortunate mishap involving the air brakes going out on his truck, causing him to crash into a plane, got him busted back to private first class.
"They kept wanting to give me rank again, but I didn't want more responsibility," he said, adding that he liked his Army job.
"We used to go to Flying Tigers meetings, and he thought he'd see someone he knew," Barbara said.
Finally, he met a man at a CBI (China-Burma-India) meeting who remembered him ---- because he didn't give him enough fuel to get over the hump when a storm came up, and he had to turn back.
Besides Rick, the Bowersocks also are the parents of Brenda Reynolds, Clinton; Christy Rollins, Newberry; and the late Glenn Bowersock.
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