Nottingham soldier, two weeks from home, volunteered for fatal mission

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Just two weeks before he was set to return home from Afghanistan and see his wife and three daughters, Staff Sgt. Collin Bowen volunteered for one last mission.

It would claim his life.

Bowen, 38, of Nottingham, died Friday at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries from a roadside bomb attack Jan. 2 in Khowst province, Afghanistan, a troubled region on the Pakistani border.

“The very last mission was his choice because he was done and finished completely,” said his brother Justin Bowen, 36, of Indianapolis. “He had sent me an e-mail saying I’m finished and I’m sending my stuff home.”

But a new commander asked Bowen to stay on for 10 more days to help with a dangerous mission requiring experienced soldiers, and he agreed.

“That’s the kind of person he was and the kind of soldier he was,” Justin Bowen said.

Bowen was six miles from the base on the final day of the mission when his convoy of Afghan and U.S. military vehicles was struck by a remote-activated bomb. Bowen was driving a U.S. Humvee that was likely singled out from the Afghan vehicles in the convoy, Justin Bowen said.

“Collin was a survivor and a fighter like no other. He lasted 10 weeks [at the hospital] and every single day was a tremendous struggle for him,” Justin Bowen said.

“He just had this amazing fighting spirit in him.”

Bowen’s family was by his side when he died and is now preparing to bury him at Arlington National Cemetery — an honor Bowen spoke of before his death.

“It’s with great honor that I’m able to fulfill his wishes,” Bowen’s wife, Ursula Bowen, said in an online journal.

“However, nothing is owed to me. It was Collin’s outstanding achievements and meritorious service that has allowed me to be just an intermediary to make sure his wish comes true.”

Bowen and Ursula had a 3-year-old daughter, Gabriela, together. Bowen’s two other daughters, Erin, 13, and Katelyn, 11, are from a previous marriage.

The Maryland National Guard said Bowen was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment based in Towson, but was assigned to the Afghanistan National Army Embedded Training Team in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Bowen, who had 14 years in the service, was the first Maryland Army National Guard casualty as part of that operation and the seventh Maryland Army National Guardsman to lose his life in support of the war on terrorism.

“Words can’t begin to express the deep sadness that all of us in the Maryland National Guard are feeling at this moment,” Maj. Gen. Bruce Tuxill said in a statement.

Bowen was a native of Marion, Ind., and recipient of the Purple Heart. He earned a degree in computer science at UMBC in 2005.

Three others were killed as a result of the Jan. 2 incident — Lt. Col. Richard J. Berrettini of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Sgt. Shawn Hill of the South Carolina Army National Guard and an Afghan interpreter.

The Bowen family is making funeral arrangements with the U.S. Army.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com

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