Survivor Of Death March Finally Gets 10 Medals

CARSON CITY, Nev. - In 1942, John Bowler survived the Bataan Death March, a five-day forced march in searing heat to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. And that was just the beginning of his ordeal.

Nine months of forced labor followed. Then his escape and renewed fighting against the Japanese with partisans in the Philippines.

But that wasn't his biggest battle. He spent the next five decades in the fight of his life: getting the military to recognize his sacrifice.

The outcome was the same both times, with Bowler on top.

On Friday, he received two Bronze Stars, a Prisoner of War Medal and seven other medals, along with a promotion to captain that had been inexplicably taken from him.

"His story is stranger than fiction, more heroic than any fictional account can be," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who helped fight for the medals and pinned them on Bowler Friday.

"It feels great," said Bowler, 74. "I'm proud of what I did and thankful for all the appreciation the country has for it."

Four other death-march survivors attended the medal ceremony, including Bowler's brother, Frank, 77, who described his brother's heroism in the Philippines during World War II.

Born in the Philippines to an American father and Filipina mother, John Bowler joined the Army in the Philippines at age 19. He was fluent in many island dialects, and his language and leadership skills got him a field promotion from sergeant to captain.

After his capture by Japanese soldiers in April 1942, he walked miles with his starving comrades. About 16,000 of the 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers did not survive the march.

The Bowlers were forced to build airstrips. They escaped nine months later and fought with guerrillas.

John Bowler came to the United States in December 1944 and was discharged in 1945, his commission pulled for no stated reason.

He worked for years to restore the promotion and was ready to give up after an Army panel ruled against him in 1986. He kept trying at the urging of his wife, Rose, 68, and six children.