FReeper Canteen ~ Col James Nicholas "Nick" Rowe ~ 24 April 09

Serving The Best Troops And Veterans In The World | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ Col James Nicholas "Nick" Rowe ~

Colonel "Nick" Rowe graduated from West Point in 1960 and made the Army his career. When his country became engaged in Vietnam, he served there as a Special Forces Officer (Green Beret) and was captured by enemy forces on October 29, 1963. He struggled against the depravity of the prison camps, never giving up hope, until finally on December 31, 1968 he escaped his captors and made his way back to allied lines.

He had once written, "So look up ahead at times to come, despair is not for us. We have a world and more to see, while this remains behind." This is enscribed on his gravestone and is a fitting memorial for yet another American Hero who left us entirely too soon.

More from the Arlington National Cemetery Website

Canteen Mission Statement

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

Rowe was assigned as Executive Officer of Detachment A-23, 5th Special Forces Group, a 12-man "A-team" in Vietnam in 1963. Located at Tan Phu in An Xuyen Province, A-23 organized and advised a Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. On October 29, 1963, after only three short months in the Republic of Vietnam, then-Lieutenant Rowe was captured by Viet Cong elements along with Captain Humberto "Rocky" R. Versace and Sgt. Daniel L. Pitzer. Separated from his comrades, Lt. Rowe spent 62 months in captivity with only brief encounters with fellow American POWs. He escaped from his Vietnamese captors on December 31, 1968. Rowe had been promoted to Major (United States) during his captivity. He authored the book, Five Years to Freedom, an account of his years as a prisoner of war.

A must read....Five Years To Freedom!

Colonel O-6, U.S. Army

U.S. Military Academy 1956-1960
U.S. Army 1960-1974, 1981-1989
Cold War 1960-1974, 1981-1989 (KIA)
Vietnam War 1963-1968 (POW, Escapee)

Nick Rowe was born on February 8, 1938, in McAllen, Texas. He entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in June 1956 and graduated with a commission as a 2LT of Artillery on June 8, 1960. Rowe was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from August 1960 to May 1961, and during this time he completed Airborne School, Ranger School, and the Artillery Officer Basic Course.

Lt Rowe next served with the 7th Special Forces Group and then the 5th Special Forces Group (SFG) of 1st Special Forces at Fort Bragg from May 1961 to July 1963. During this time he completed Language School at the Presidio of Monterey, California.

Rowe went on TDY with the 5th SFG to the Republic of Vietnam in July 1963, and was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War by the Viet Cong on October 29, 1963. After spending 1,891 days in captivity, Maj Rowe escaped on December 31, 1968, and made his way to friendly forces. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and then served as an instructor with the Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from June 1969 to September 1970.

Col Rowe returned to active duty on March 12, 1981, and served as Chief of the Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, until May 1985, when he was made Commander of the First Special Warfare Training Battalion at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, also at Fort Bragg.

In May 1988 Col Rowe was assigned as the Chief of the Army Division of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group in the Philippines. He was assassinated by Communist guerrilas in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila, on April 21, 1989. Nick Rowe was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on May 2, 1989.

More about Nick Rowe and his Silver Star citation

Colonel Rowe is buried in Section 48 lot 2165-A of
Arlington National Cemetery.

Amazing Grace

Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.

Thanks, mohresearcher, for reminding us of this hero.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

LOL
Nah..
You just get ahead of yourself sometimes!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I want one, or two!
LOL
Hmm...
I’ll have to shop around and see if I can find some up here!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

You are most welcome!

[luvie]

Prayers for both your heroes and for your family during this
time of extreme stress and worry! God watch out for these
two members of our Air Force who are fighting to keep
their country safe.

Glad to meet a fellow AF mom.

[luvie]

It looked good....kinda like a grilled cheese. Mmmm...

[TADSLOS]

He was a living legend. He added honor to our service.

Yep. My first experience with Nick Rowe was in the palmetto thickets of Eglin AFB after just emerging from a small taste of ass kicking SERE (literally, LOL!). Nick gave us some insight on the subject in the classroom that afternoon. I don't think we really fully appreciated who he was or what he had gone through at the time. Met him again a few years later at Benning providing the same training to Ranger students there. He was one hell of a man.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Home.....now I can see it. Gives meaning to the term “mother hen”. Cute. And how are you doing today? ((HUGS)) It sprinkled on and off on the way home. Dry here so far. Still hoping.

[mylife]

You are more than welcome.

Godspeed

[mylife]

There is nothing better LoL

[luvie]

Well, they’re probably good, but nothing better than fresh lobster or a big ole steak? Well.....?

[mylife]

I’s just bring a couple up but TSA may go wild! LoL

(our country is in trouble)

[brushcop]

Hey Kathy,

Nickie Rowe! No disrespect here, that’s how we knew him in McAllen, TX. What a great homecoming parade after his escape as POW, what a man to emulate and what a loss. They all are great losses.

Thank you for this. God bless our troops wherever they are, they deserve so much better from this ungrateful country. But we will hold them in high esteem always, this remnant of true Americans.

And thank you Lord for the life and example of Col. James Nicholas Rowe, may he be remembered always.

[mylife]

No. You cant beat that.

But a hobo pie is pretty good ;)

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Yeah, it did.
You could get creative and put all kindsa stuff in dere!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Looks there there was a contest for the best hobo pie recipe here:
http://www.greatcamps.com/pie-iron-dinners-recipes-contest-7.htm

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, Leisler....thank you for sharing your story. Very telling indeed...a sure sign of a good leader. And thank you for your service to our country.

[mylife]

Great stuff LoL

Like ham an cheese!

[mylife]

Pizza was one of my faves.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Lookee here!
Recipes for hot apple strudel and stuff..
YOM!
http://www.chuckwagondiner.com/pieiron.html

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

April 24, 2009

The Father’s Faithfulness

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READ: Psalm 107:1-16

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. . . . Great is Your faithfulness. —Lamentations 3:22-23

Hudson Taylor, the humble servant of God to China, demonstrated extraordinary trust in God’s faithfulness. In his journal he wrote:

“Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning. . . . He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all. . . . Depend on it, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

We may be faint and weary, but our heavenly Father is all-powerful. Our feelings may fluctuate, but He is unchangeable. Even creation itself is a record of His steadfastness. That’s why we can sing these words from a hymn by Thomas Chisholm: “Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.”

What an encouragement to live for Him! Our strength for the present and hope for the future are not based on the stability of our own perseverance but on the fidelity of God. No matter what our need, we can count on the Father’s faithfulness.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! —Chisholm
© Renewal 1951 Hope Publishing.

He who abandons himself to God will never be abandoned by God.

Bible in One Year: 2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18:1-23