Edward Henry Bowes was born on February 20, 1896, in Corning, Steuben County, New York. He was married to Roselner McKee. He graduated from St. Mary’s School, Corning Free Academy, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1919. After touring European battlefields with his class, he served in various instructional roles, including ROTC in Maryland and later as a tactics instructor at West Point, authoring a manual on infantry weapons. He was Training Officer at the USCC (1938–1939) and was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 31st Infantry Regiment on September 15, 1941, while stationed at Fort Lewis, Oregon, and later assigned to the Philippines.

Captured by Japanese forces, he was held as a prisoner of war at PW Camp #2 in Davao, Mindanao, until December 1944, when he was placed aboard the Oryoku Maru “Hell Ship” for transfer to Japan. Later, he died while aboard the ship that was sunk on December 15, 1944. He was reported Missing in Action and officially declared dead on January 28, 1945. His remains were never recovered, and his name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.

Source of information: weremember.abmc.gov, libapps.salisbury.edu