John Webster Bowman Jr.

02/07/1944 - 08/21/2025

(Age 81)
John Webster Bowman Jr. died on August 21, 2025, in Laguna Nigel, California at 81 years of age. The cause of his death was complications arising from Alzheimer's disease.
John was born on February 7, 1944, in Cape Girardeau Missouri to his father John W. Bowman and mother Eleanor Hempstone Bowman. His father was a career U.S. Marine officer, so the family travelled in his early years, but periodically gravitated back to the family home in Bethesda, Maryland. The family spent three years in Honolulu, Hawaii where John attended the Punahou School and from which he went on to three years at the Choate School (1959-62) in Wallingford, Connecticut. From Choate he went to Princeton University on a full NROTC scholarship where he majored in History and graduated in 1966.
Upon graduating from Princeton, John received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Following the completion of basic training, he went to flight school and received his wings, the symbol of a designated Naval Aviator, as a helicopter pilot in 1968. His first tour of duty was flying H-34 helicopters on combat missions in Vietnam where he served with honor and distinction and was heavily decorated for his courageous execution of particularly difficult missions. A few years later, he was back in Vietnam and was one of the last helicopters out of the country on April 30, 1975, as it fell to the North Vietnamese. The U.S Naval forces offshore were so crowded with planes and refugees that there was no place for him to land, so he and his copilot were forced to ditch the aircraft in the sea on a dark night. Both survived and were decorated for their skill and bravery.
John loved the Marine Corps and spent 25 years in that service, finishing his career as the Commanding Officer of the Quantico Marine Air Station. Post Marine Corps, his career was spent in the Washington, DC area as the head of a civilian group providing logistic support to the Pentagon. He was an enthusiastic volunteer at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, active in the American Legion, and participated for many years in the Wounded Warrior Mentor Program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
John Bowman was a true American hero, a bigger than life figure, nonetheless modest and unassuming, who was beloved by his family and by so many friends from all phases of his life. He always had a smile on his face, a happy greeting, and a hand to help those he met.
John was predeceased by his sister Ellen and brother Bill and is survived by his wife Grace, stepsons Marshall (wife Lisa) and Elliot (wife Carrie), and grandchildren Marshall, Grace, Ellie, and Alden, as well as a host of cousins. Following the family tradition set by his grandparents, parents, and several uncles, he will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery sometime in 2026.