Brian H. M. Bowen

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to First Lieutenant Brian H. M. Bowen, 0 538 367, Corps of Engineers, Company “A”, 10th Engineer Combat Battalion. Near Althornbach, Germany in the early morning hours of 18 March 1945, Lieutenant Bowen accompanied by two enlisted men, despite two previous unsuccessful attempts by engineer platoons, drove a tank dozer loaded with demolition equipment into the second row of dragon teeth in the Siegfried Line. Disregarding intense enemy fire directed at his completely exposed position, Lieutenant Bowen and his two companions succeeded in blowing a path through the dragon teeth, filled an enemy anti-tank ditch beyond and thus enabled supporting armor to come to the aid of an exposed infantry regiment. The heroic action of Lieutenant Bowen and his companions led to a successful breakthrough of the enemy’s vaunted line.