James Nicholas Rowe (1938 - 1989)

Born 8 Feb 1938 in McAllen, Hidalgo, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Died 21 Apr 1989 at age 51 in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

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Biography

James Nicholas "Nick" Rowe was born February 8, 1938 in Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Texas, United States. His parents were Lee Delevan Rowe and Florence Survil (Dudzinska) Rowe, a Russian immigrant.^[1]

Lieutenant Colonel James Nicholas Rowe

James Nicholas Rowe, a native of Hidalgo, Texas,
was:

• a West Point graduate
• 1 of only 34 Vietnam POW's who escaped from captivity
• assassinated by communists in the Phllippines

In 1940, James lived in McAllen, Hidalgo, Texas, United States with his 45 year old father, 39 year old mother, and brother Richard (age 18).^[2]

There seemed to be a dark cloud over Nick's family. He had a sister, Mary Alice, who was born in 1925^[3] and was only eleven years old when she died in 1936,^[4] two years before Nick was born. Then, his brother Richard (sixteen years older than Nick) attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York but died in 1944, shortly before he would otherwise have graduated.^[5]

As a teen, Nick joined his local DeMolay chapter. Following graduation from McAllen High School in 1956, he followed in his brother's footsteps, attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.^[5]

First Lieutenant James "Nick" Rowe"

Military Career
Upon graduation from West Point in 1960, Rowe began his Army career as a second lieutenant. In 1963, he was a first lieutenant assigned as Executive Officer of Detachment A-23, 5th Special Forces Group, at Tan Phu, An Xuyen Province, Vietnam. This was a twelve man team that organized and advised a Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.^[5]

Prisoner of War in Vietnam
After only three months there, while attempting to drive the Viet Cong out of the village of Le Coeur, Rowe and two other members of his team were captured. After the three Green Berets were separated, Rowe spent 62 months in captivity in the U Minh Forest, most of this time in a 3 by 4 by 6 foot bamboo cage, during which he made four unsuccessful attempts to escape.^[6]

First Meal After Having Been Rescued

As an intelligence officer, Rowe possessed vital information about the disposition of defenses around the CIDG camps, the locations of mine field, names of friendly Vietnamese, and unit locations and strength. He successfully deceived his captors into believing that he was a draftee engineer charged with building schools and other civil affairs projects until his cover was blown when the Viet Cong managed to obtain a list of American high-value prisoners-of-war (POWs) that identified him as an intelligence officer. The enraged Viet Cong decided to execute Rowe. They led him deep into the jungle to be shot, but were distracted by a flight of American helicopters and Rowe overpowered his guard, escaped and flagged down a UH-1 helicopter.^[5] Following his rescue on December 31, 1968,^[7] Rowe discovered that he had been promoted to Major during his captivity.^[8]

Rowe married Jane Caroline Benson December 27, 1969 and they had two children, Deborah and Christina.^[9]

Author
In 1971, Rowe authored the book, Five Years to Freedom, an account of his years as a prisoner of war. Also published in 1971 was "Southeast Asia Survival Journal", which he wrote for the United States Department of the Air Force. After leaving active service in 1974, Rowe remained in the United States Army Reserve. He co-authored "The Washington Connection" with Robin Moore, published in 1977. Rowe's first novel, "The Judas Squad" was also published in 1977.^[6]

Following his divorce from Jane, Rowe married Mary Unknown and they had two children, Stephen and Brian.^[9]

Fort Bragg, North Carolina
The United States Army Special Forces school identified a need for a Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training course in 1981 and recalled Rowe to active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel to head this task.

Considered the most important advanced training in the special operations field, the course trains soldiers to avoid capture, but if caught, to survive and return home with honor.

In early 1985, Lieutenant Colonel Rowe left the SERE committee to become Commander of the 1^st Special Forces Warfare Training Battalion, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) at Fort Bragg.

The Philippines
In 1987, Lieutenant Colonel Rowe was assigned as the chief of the Army division of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG), Philippines, providing counter-insurgency training for the Philippine military.^[6]

Working closely with the CIA and the Phillipine's own intelligence organization, he was involved in its long-time program to penetrate the communist New Peoples' Army (NPA) and its parent communist party. By February, 1989, Colonel Rowe had developed intelligence information indicating that the communists were planning a major terrorist act. He warned his superiors in Washington, DC that a high-profile figure was about to be hit and that he, himself, was number 2 or 3 on the terrorist's target list.

Assassination
On April 21, 1989, Rowe was returning to the JUSMAG compound in Quezon city in an armored limousine when his vehicle came under attack by automatic weapon gunfire just outside the compound and was hit by more than twenty bullets fired by at least two hooded gunmen in a stolen car. Although these bullets were not capable of penetrating the vehicle's armor, the dysfunctional air conditioning system had caused the driver to open the small vent window to compensate for the unbearable Phillipine heat. One round entered the vehicle through that opening and struck Rowe in the head, killing him instantly.^[6]

James Nicholas "Nick" Rowe was buried in section 48, lot 2165-A, map grid Q/25 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, United States.^[10]

Although the United States State Department called it a random terrorist act, evidence shows that Nick's selection as a target was a direct result of his Vietnam experience.

• In May 1989, United States Veteran News and Report reported that (according to a source who had served under Col. Rowe and confirmed by a former commander of the 5^th Special Forces Group), the Vietnamese communists wanted him dead and very likely collaborated with the Philippine insurgents to achieve that goal. At an earlier time, while Rowe was on assignment in Greece, Delta Force (the United States anti-terrorist organization) moved in, secured the area, and relocated him in response to reports that Vietnamese communist agents were planning an action against him because of his dealings with the North Vietnamese during his time as a prisoner.^[6]

• In June of 1989, from an NPA stronghold in the hills of Sorsogon, a province in Southern Luzon's Bicol region, senior cadre Celso Minguez told the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine that the communist underground wished to send a message to the American people by killing a Vietnam veteran. Minguez, a founder of the communist insurgency in Bicol and participant in the abortive 1986 peace talks with President Corazon Aquino's government, said "We want to let them know that their government is making the Philippines another Vietnam".^[6]

Memorials

• A permanent free-standing display case at the McAllen Heritage Center in McAllen, Texas
• James "Nikki" Rowe High School in McAllen, Texas
• Col. Rowe Boulevard (formally known as 2^nd Street) in McAllen, Texas
• The McAllen High School JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) Drill Team and Shooting Team are named Rowe's Rifles and Rowe's Rangers, respectively
• Rowe Hall, a training facility at the United States Army Intelligence Center and School, Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
• Rowe Hall, a Consolidated Training Facility (aka ISOFAC) at 5^th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Fort Campbell, Kentucky
• An Order of Knighthood priory of DeMolay International in the state of Florida is named in his memory.

• Nasty Nick, the obstacle course on Camp Mackall, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
• The Rowe Building of the Joint United States Military Assistance Group in the United States Embasssy, Manila, Philippines
• The Colonel James N. "Nick" Rowe Memorial, located in Veteran's Memorial Park in Union Beach, New Jersey, was dedicated on October 9, 2004, by friends, classmates from the West Point Class of 1960, and comrades-in arms, Among attendees were Major General Ted Crowley (a classmate) and Ross Perot and Colonel Rowe's widow and children.
• The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) dedicated a building in Charlottesville, Virginia to the former prisoner of war and Army colonel who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

Military Honors

• Silver Star
• Legion of Merit
• Two Bronze Stars
• Two Purple Hearts
• Meritorious Service Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Vietnam Service Medal with eight combat stars
• Army Service Ribbon
• Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation

Non-Military Awards

• American Patriot Award of Freedom's Foundation of Valley Forge (1969)
• Outstanding Young Man of America award
• George Washington Honor Medal of Freedom's Foundation of Valley Forge (1974)
• Legion of Honor, International Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay.
• Induction into International DeMolay Hall of Fame
• Three United States Post Office First Day Covers

Sources

^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997, database, FamilySearch (5 December 2014), James Nicholas Rowe, 08 Feb 1938; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_N._Rowe Wikipedia
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} United States Census, 1940, database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 24 May 2018), James N Rowe in household of Lee D Rowe, McAllen, Justice Precinct 3, Hidalgo, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 108-17, sheet 71B, line 65, family 174, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4062.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997, database, FamilySearch (5 December 2014), Mary Alice Rowe, 05 Apr 1925; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Texas Death Index, 1903-2000, database, FamilySearch (24 May 2014), Mary Alice Rowe, 27 May 1936; from "Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2006); citing certificate number 24034, Bexar, Texas, Texas Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Austin.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4} Wikipedia, James N. Rowe, (accessed May 24, 2018).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} Ed Rouse, Psychological Operations/Psychological Warfare website, page for Colonel James "Nick" Rowe, (accessed May 26, 2018).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Blackhawks Association, Escape From The Darkness, Ben Bentley, (accessed May 27, 2018), includes the following:

   From about 2 miles away at an altitude of 1000 feet, I watched as the B-52 Arc Light strike began exactly on time. The initial flash fireball from each of the massive explosions quickly spread out in a gray-black smoke cloud of flying debris with a visible shock-wave force, destroying everything natural and man-made in its path. From 30,000 feet, each of the three giant B-52s Stratofortresses in the flight dropped approximately 27 tons of bombs, laying down an unbelievable path of total destruction. It was easy to understand why the Viet Cong referred to these strikes as “The Chain of Thunder.” The VC had no possible defense against them except to run, but run to where? They never saw or heard the aircraft. Their world just suddenly exploded all around them.
   
   I was a Cobra pilot in B Troop, 7/1st Air Cavalry serving in the Delta region of Vietnam, tactically known as IV Corps. In reality, it was our hunting ground. A place where we sought out the VC, reacted to intelligence reports and supported South Vietnamese soldiers with their Green Beret advisors. In many ways, the day-to-day routine became a mind numbing experience of simply staying alive.
   
   This particular afternoon, we were near the edge of the U-Minh Forest, known to the Vietnamese as “The Forest of Darkness.” Our mission was to conduct a bomb damage assessment for the B-52 strike. As soon as the bombs stopped exploding, the Scouts would swoop into the area to see what they could find. Scouts flew small OH-6 light observation helicopters literally at treetop level looking for signs of the enemy. All too often, the first indication of VC activity was the Scouts being shot at. With Scouts flying low, the Cobras circled protectively overhead, ready to dive and attack anything that challenged them. The Cobras were AH-1 gunships that carried 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rockets and 7.62mm mini-guns.
   
   As the Scouts searched the bombed area, they spotted a camp near the outer edge of the strike zone. Wanting more detailed information about the camp, the Command and Control (C&C) radioed our Lift Platoon to crank up their UH-1 Hueys and bring in some ground forces to sweep through the area. Although deserted when the troops arrived, they reported it was a recently occupied POW compound, complete with food, cooking gear, clothing and cages with locks. When the Arc Light strike began, the VC guards had grabbed their weapons and disappeared into the surrounding countryside along with their prisoners.
   
   Any discussion of Vietnam POWs invariably centers on those who were captured and held in the camps of North Vietnam, the most infamous of which was the “Hanoi Hilton.” However, many of our soldiers were also held in widely dispersed, crude, small camps scattered throughout South Vietnam. The few POWs who made it home alive from these camps did not return to the same fanfare of those from the North, but they too had suffered brutal treatment and endured.
   
   The confirmation of an active POW compound immediately changed our unit’s mission priorities from search and destroy to POW recovery. We spent several days and countless hours systematically searching for prisoners. None were found. About a week after the B-52 strike, the POW search was cancelled and we went back to our routine mission of responding to intelligence and hunting VC.
   
   The morning of December 31st began like so many others, a before dawn takeoff for a long flight deep into the Delta. We were going back to the U-Minh Forest for a day of hunting. Although called a forest, the U-Minh was nothing like the triple canopy jungles of the northern highlands of Vietnam. It was a massive plain of dense scrub brush and trees, usually 5 to 20 feet high, crisscrossed by a seemingly endless array of small canals. B Troop deployed the typical 2 hunter-killer teams of two Cobras and two Scouts per team, the Lift platoon and a C&C helicopter. Our staging area was an empty field about 20 minutes flight time from the mission area where we would refuel and rearm from prepositioned portable fuel bladders and Conex containers of ammunition.
   
   Upon arrival at the staging area, the second hunter-killer team, the Lift platoon and the C&C all landed to top-off their fuel. My hunter-killer team continued directly into the U-Minh forest to start the day’s search
   
   Almost immediately, the Scouts spotted a couple of long wooden boats called sampans, camouflaged and tied together in one of the small canals snaking throughout the U-Minh. They hovered around, using their rotor wash to blow away the camouflage, looking for any signs of VC. Within a couple of minutes, the lead Scout, piloted by 1LT Fred Young with gunner SP/4 Abadella, started taking AK-47 automatic rifle fire from a nearby clump of brush. He broke away, calling “Taking Fire” and simultaneously popped a red smoke grenade. I responded immediately, rolling into a hard left bank. I simultaneously dropped the nose and put the rocket sight on the billowing red smoke. I called “Inbound Hot” and fired 2 pairs of rockets. As the rockets exploded, my front seat co-pilot/gunner sprayed the area with the turret mini-gun. At 4,000 rounds per minute, a mini-gun spit out a solid line of red tracers, looking much like a deadly water hose.
   
   As soon as I started my break off the target, my wingman fired a pair of rockets to cover me. His co-pilot/gunner also sprayed the area with his mini-gun. Since we didn’t received any hostile fire, I called “Going High and Dry”, signaling the Scouts to go back and check the target area. They found 3 dead VC and their weapons but nothing else.
   
   Shortly thereafter, the C&C helicopter, piloted by our Commander Major David Thompson and his co-pilot, Warrant Officer-1 Louis Schantz, arrived with our relief hunter-killer team. We reported the activity, turned the search over to them and then headed to the staging area to refuel. Since I hadn’t fired much ordinance, I didn’t need to shut the engine down and reload. Instead, my co-pilot/gunner refueled us while I remained in the cockpit, holding the controls at a flight idle while monitoring the radio traffic. We had just completed refueling when I heard the lead Scout, flown by Captain Jerry Free with gunner SP/4 Richard Farinha, call that he had spotted someone trying to surrender. Major Thompson radioed that they were going to land to pick up the surrendering VC.
   
   Suspecting that the surrendering VC might be bait in a trap, Major Thompson advised the Cobra team to keep him closely covered. If the C&C took any fire, the Cobras were to immediately kill the VC. Throughout the landing approach, the lead Cobra flew a loose formation with the C&C, positioned to put immediate covering fire under the C&C helicopter if needed. The Cobra gunner held his turret mini-gun sight on what appeared to be the surrendering VC. As the C&C descended to about fifty feet, Major Thompson transmitted a radio call I’ll never forget: “My God, it’s an American!”
   
   Although dressed like a VC in black pajamas and sandals, the C&C crew was now close enough to recognize that the individual was taller than the normal Vietnamese. He had a beard unlike most Vietnamese and the round eyes of a Caucasian.
   
   When C&C touched down, the American ran toward the helicopter. He kept his hands high above his head until he was assured by the waving arm motions of the crew chief, SP/4 Michael Thompson and door gunner, SP/4 Breece Stevens, that he was not going to be shot. Once he was safely onboard, the C&C took off, climbing to a safe altitude above 1,500 feet.
   
   The American identified himself as First Lieutenant James N. Rowe. The Scouts buzzed back into the area looking for any more POWs. Rowe indicated that he was the only POW and there were only four surviving guards after the first Cobra strike. The four surviving VC were no longer important to us. Our priority shifted to getting 1LT Rowe back safely. Immediately after takeoff, Specialists Thompson and Stevens handed 1LT Rowe a canteen of water. They quickly opened several cans of C-Rations which the near-starving lieutenant eagerly devoured.
   
   Major Thompson radioed for all B Troop helicopters to immediately join in formation on his helicopter to escort this hero on the first leg of his journey home. He radioed IV Corps Operations the code word indicating that we had rescued a POW, followed by his phonetic initials, “Juliet November Romeo”. The voice on the radio asked Major Thompson to stand by. A few moments later, a different voice came on the radio asking if the POW could be put on the radio. One of the crewmen gave 1LT Rowe a helmet and showed him the transmit control switch. The new voice said “Welcome Home, Roomy!” It was Lieutenants Rowe’s roommate from West Point. We all had the privilege to monitor that heart-warming conversation.
   
   First Lieutenant Nick Rowe was captured October 29, 1963 while serving as a Special Forces advisor and regained his freedom 5 years, 2 months and 2 days later, on December 31, 1968.
   
   A few days later, B Troop received a short audio recording of some of the de-briefing of Lieutenant Rowe as he described exactly how he managed to get away from his guards.
   
   Yes, he had been in the POW camp barely missed by the B-52 Arc Light strike. He and his 7 guards had been living on the few small bags of rice they had carried from their camp. They added to their meager rations by eating bugs, grass and anything they could find since then. They only had a single cup of rice per day and everybody was getting very weak.
   
   My initial Cobra strike killed 3 of his guards. As the survivors scrambled to get away from the Scouts and hide in the thick brush and trees, 1LT Rowe managed to get himself and one of the guards separated from the others. His guard only had two weapons, an old American M3 .45 caliber sub-machinegun, commonly called a “grease gun,” and a single hand grenade. The M3 fires from an open bolt position, meaning that a bullet is not carried in the chamber. When the trigger is pulled, the bolt slides forward, stripping a round from the magazine and shoves it into the chamber for firing. As they were going through some especially heavy brush, 1LT Rowe managed to bump into the guard and released the M3’s magazine latch. The guard, not realizing this had happened, was left with an unloaded gun and one grenade. 1LT Rowe figured the guard was so weak that he wouldn’t dare throw the grenade at him for fear he would also kill himself. In 1LT Rowe’s mind, the guard was now unarmed and the others were nowhere to be seen. When a Scout flew close by, he knocked the young guard down with a stick and ran into a small clearing, waving his white mosquito net and praying that the Scouts or Cobras would not shoot him. On this day, his prayers were answered!
   
   Several years later, I had the privilege of meeting Major Rowe. He had been awarded all of his missed promotions when he returned home. He came to our base on a speaking tour for Savings Bonds. Although I had only a couple of minutes to talk with him, it was a real pleasure to shake his hand and tell him that I was flying one of the Cobras when he was rescued.
   
   I consider myself lucky to have played a small part in the escape of this American hero. That single mission made my year in Vietnam worthwhile. I don’t think this mission ever received much, if any, news coverage back home. But my fellow B Troop Dutch Masters know what we did on that day in 1968 and are proud of it. Personally, I think that all 7/1st Air Cavalry Blackhawks should take a great deal of pride in the fact that our unit got one of the good guys back!
   
   In 1971, Major Rowe’s story of his POW experiences was published in his book titled “Five Years To Freedom”. He retired from the Army in 1974. Lieutenant Colonel Rowe was recalled to active duty in 1981 and tasked to design and build a course based on his POW experiences. That course, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) continues to be a requirement for graduation from the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course. The other U.S. Military Services have similar courses based on his SERE school.
   
   In 1987, Colonel Rowe was assigned to the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group in the Philippines. Tragically, while serving in this assignment, he was assassinated by Communist guerrillas in April 1989.

8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} United States Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998, database, FamilySearch (12 December 2014), James Nicholas Rowe, NARA NAID 306742, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} The New York Times, James Rowe Obituary, published April 22, 1989, (accessed May 24, 2018).
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Find a Grave, memorial #20727 for James Nicholas Rowe, (accessed May 27, 2018).

See also:

• Col. James N. "Nick" Rowe gravesite, photostream
• Arlington National Cemetery
• POW Network
• Military Hall of Honor
• AR Gunners
• Special Forces Association