Army Private First Class Samuel Bowen

My hero, Army Private First Class Samuel Bowen, was a hero in many ways. He was brave enough to enter the Ohio National Guard to fight for the United States and the freedom of the Iraqi citizens. Bowen was known for pulling a wounded soldier out of the line of fire, even though he was injured himself.

Samuel Bowen, 38 years old, entered the Ohio National Guard to fight in the Iraqi War. He was a native to Cleveland, Ohio and worked as a chef in a restaurant. He kept in touch with family and was called “Smokey” by his friends. “He always had a smile on his face. You could never tell when he was having a down day,” Bowen’s sister, Consuella, said of him.

Sadly, on July 7th, Bowen was killed in an explosion in Samara. But what he was most known for is pulling a fellow soldier out of danger from the first line of defense. “Without regard for himself, without regard for what injuries he had, Sam grabbed me and pulled me to safety,” Spc. Ronald Eaton.

In the book, A Hero’s Trail, T.S. Barron talks about different kinds of heroes and what makes many different people a hero. Barron has four different classifications of a hero: “hero on the spot, survivor hero, hero within, and hero to others near and far.” Samuel Bowen is a hero in many ways. He would have been classified as a “Hero on the Spot.” Bowen is a hero on the spot because he made a split second decision to move into the line of fire, despite his own injuries, and save a fellow soldier in need. He didn’t think about it, he just went in and pulled Ronald Eaton to safety. Samuel Bowen was very brave and deserves to be considered a hero.

Samuel Bowen is a hero in so many different ways. He was courageous, while also exhibiting perserverance and moral direction. It took everything he had to go in and save that soldier from the line of fire, with no consideration for his own safety. Army Private First Class Samuel Bowen is my hero.