The Bowerman family of Ohio will represent the families of 18,096 MIA Americans lost in the Pacific during WWII on this week’s Dan Rather Reports. Dan Rather Remembers: Pearl Harbor will air this Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 8PM ET on HDNet. Read about the Bowerman family in the article below from the ReviewTimes in Fostoria , OH.
Area family airs their history
By HANNAH NUSSER
STAFF WRITER
For one area man, being featured on celebrity journalist Dan Rather’s nighttime news show this week is exciting, but he’s not letting it go to his head.
“It isn’t about me, it’s about the story,” said Ron Bowerman, a physics teacher at St. Wendelin Catholic School, who will be featured on a 90-minute special Dan Rather Reports show Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The Bowerman family was chosen to represent those with missing-in-action family members on Tuesday night’s show, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
But how the show’s producers came to contact Bowerman at his Van Buren home is much more than a story of coincidence.
Bowerman remembers the story untold dating back to his childhood. His uncles, Bill and Sam Bowerman, were both declared MIA in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Bill, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, was declared missing during a battle, and later returned home. His brother Sam was lost at sea — he never made it back home.
Sam was a Navy Seal during WWII and served as a coxswain aboard the USS Mullany, also known to some as “the ship that wouldn’t die,” Bowerman said. Sam’s duties included steering the ship and supervising the crew members.
He went overboard after an explosion during a battle on Dec. 6, 1945. The then-23-year-old, plus eight other crewmen, were lost at sea.
The incident took its toll on their mother, Ron Bowerman’s grandmother, who refused to accept that Sam was dead.
The battle could not have been on 6 Dec. 1845. The war had been over for several months then.
Military research in general is an exciting tool for understanding one’s family history and uncovering the mysteries surrounding a veteran’s military service. In addition to using online records I recommend actually tracing the footsteps of individual veterans during their military service which is an option that few folks are aware of. This process can help to uncover one’s military heritage and preserve the memory of our heroic soldiers during wartime. The best way to accomplish this is by accessing personnel records like unit rosters, morning reports, and medical records which are not available online.