Went On To A Career As An Educator Following WWII Service

Tuskegee Airman James Bowman passed away near Pittsburgh, PA Monday at the age of 91. Bowman trained and served with the famed unit, rising to the rank of warrant officer, but never saw combat.

Following his service in the Tuskegee Airmen, Bowman returned to Iowa to become an educator. He was a science teacher and later an administrator, becoming the first black superintendent of the Des Moines, IA public schools.

According to a report in the Des Moines Register, Bowman attended Iowa State College, which later became Iowa State University. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1943, and joined the Tuskegee Airmen. He completed pilot training and earned his wings but was never deployed overseas. On August 8, 1945, he was forced to bail out of an airplane that caught fire during a training mission at night over Walterboro, SC.

Bowman was among those Tuskegee Airmen who received the Congressional Gold Medal in March 2009. He is survived by his two daughters, Linda Lane of Pittsburgh, PA and Gloria Bowman of Berea, KY, two grandchildren, and a half sister.

FMI: www.tuskegeeairmen.org