Young
Texas soldier is... We had the helmets and cartridge belts from the local army surplus store; and with a large supply of toy soldiers, jeeps, and tanks
— we were ready to wage war on the enemy. In
those days, World War II had been over for about five years and
feelings of hate towards the Japanese and Germans still lingered
in our young minds. They were still the enemy. Unfortunately,
war is not a game but instead it is a very real and horrible
occurrence. In
July of 1944 the war was going the way of the allied armies and
defeat was now seen as imminent for Germany and Japan. It was
during this time that one young American soldier had his exciting
story published in The Gonzales Inquirer. That
article is printed (un-edited) below. The
Gonzales Inquirer (Texas) • July 26, 1944 [Headline: Blood-Stained
Picture of Wife, Baby - Saves Life of Lt. Bowley in France] WITH U.S. FORCES in France, July 5 — A bloodstained photo of his wife and baby, saved the life of Lt. John Bowley of Houston, who
was captured three weeks ago and
released when the Americans over-ran the place where he was
hidden. He
was a member of a patrol party which took the wrong road and got
in a fight with 20 Germans. Bowley
received seven bad wounds from grenades before his capture. He
said his captors took everything he had, including his wife's
rosary which he wore around his neck. He
was weak and bleeding when questioned, by one German holding a
flashlight in his eyes, a pistol in hand. Bowley was able to
sprinkle sulfa powder on his wounds, but his captors forbade him
to use his first aid bandage. He
and Lt. Cyrus Corson of Bessenger City, North Carolina, were put
in a half-track hauling ammunition and had been on the road five
hours when an American fighter strafed them, setting off the
ammunition. He
was taken to a French house guarded by seven Germans. During the
day, Bowley became friendly with a German sergeant. The German
proudly showed the picture of his wife and baby and Bowley
reciprocated. Both babies were the same age, and had never seen
their fathers. In
the evening, a courier arrived with a written order that the
sergeant execute the prisoners. German remnants of the shattered
77th Division were fleeing southward from the American trap. The
sergeant read the order and then let Lieutenant Corson read it.
The friendly sergeant said he hated to comply with the orders, but
was a slave to duty. Bowley
appealed for his live for the sake of his baby. The sergeant wept.
He said if the Frenchman who owned the house would hide the
prisoners, he would stick out his neck by saying the order was
executed and the bodies were buried. He thought it would go
uninvestigated because of the confusion. The Frenchman hid the
Americans under hay in the barn. Bowley's
wounds were undressed and he nearly smothered for four days. The
Frenchman feared to get the village doctor, but he brought the
local priest, a remarkable man who had been a physician before he
received Holy Orders. The priest dressed the wounds and came
daily, bringing champagne, cognac, and a little food. The
two were given civilian clothes and put in the attic of a near-by
house where they stayed for 15 days. The priest came daily. He was
their only visitor. All this time the American lines were only two
miles away, but the German guard was alert. Shell
fragments from artillery often penetrated the attic roof. July 4
brought American soldiers flushing the houses for snipers. When
the Americans entered, the two officers feared they would be shot
on sight because of their civilian clothes. Finally
they saw a Yank pass, his back turned. Crying, "don't
shoot" they quickly announced their identity and an hour
later they were in a hospital. Lt.
John F. Bowley's wife is the former Miss Beatrice Rajnock of
Gonzales.
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