Central City Twin, 22, Killed by Jap Sniper
Special to The Gazette.
CENTRAL CITY - Pfc. Ival Bowen, 22, was shot and killed March 2 in the Philippines by a Jap sniper, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Bown of Central City, have been advised in a letter received from Ival's twin brother, Pfc. Ivan Bowen.
In the letter, dated March 3, Ivan said that he and his brother had been together an hour before. They had been storming a hilltop and were "digging in" for the night when the sniper's bullet pierced Ival's heart. He was buried in a military cemetery near Manila.
The twins entered service together in March 1943, trained at Camp Polk, La., and Fort Ord, Calif., and went overseas in May 1944. After landing in New Guinea, they were sent to the Admiralty islands and then to the Philippines. Attached to a machinegun platoon, they were among the first troops to arrive in the Philippines.
The twins, born in Central City, were graduated from high school in 1939. Ival was employed by the Quaker Oats company in Cedar Rapids before he entered service.
Surviving besides his parents and twin brother are four sisters and his grandparents.
Source: Cedar Rapids Gazette, March 22, 1945, pg. 16 (photo included)
Ival Merle Bowen was born July 14, 1922 to Clark Lacey and Orra M. Palmer Bowen. He died Mar. 2, 1945 and is buried in Mount Clark Cemetery, Central City, IA.Pvt. Bowen served in World War II with the U.S. Army 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division and was KIA in the Philippines.
Sources: ancestry.com
