Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4/W-4), U.S. Army, Army Security Agency
Vietnam War veteran (three-tours)

Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Purple Heart

PAUL ALLEN BOWS
     EASTABOGA - Funeral services for Paul Allen Bows, CW4 AUS [sic, USA], Retired, 72, will be Saturday, August 27 at 3 p.m. at Eastaboga Baptist Church with Chaplain John Shaddix and the Rev. Rodney Prickett officiating and Gray Brown-Service Mortuary & Crematory in charge. Burial will follow at the adjoining cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church and on Friday Evening from 6-8 p.m. at Gray Brown-Service. Mr. Bows died Tuesday at his residence.
     Survivors include his wife, [living] Bows; three sons, [living] Bows of [withheld], [living] Bows of [withheld], and [living] Bows of [withheld]; three daughters, [living] Brooks of [withheld], [living] Sneed of [withheld], and [living] Koppels; one brother, [living] Bows of [withheld]; one sister, [living] Chase of [withheld]; thirteen grandchildren, [living] Hipp, [living] Bows, [living] Villavicencio, [living] Koppels, [living] Bows, [living] Sanderson, [living] Woodle, [living] Bows, [living] Haynes, [living] Baker, [living] Sneed, [living] Downer and [living] Downer; several great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
     Pallbearers will be the Military Honor Guard. Honorary pallbearers will be John Shaddix, [living] Bows, and John Snodgrass. Paul was born 1933 in Avon, Massachusetts to Esther and Clinton Bows. He was a 1950 graduate of Avon High School, Avon, Massachusetts and served 25 years in the army. After obtaining high military aptitude test scores and passing a detailed background investigation, he joined the Army and with a top-secret crypto clearance was assigned to an Army Security Agency unit in the Signal and Intelligence Corp. After 13 years as an enlisted man, he received an appointment as a Warrant Officer. In addition to his Combat Infrantry [sic, Infantry] Badge, Air Assault Wings, Vietnam Honorary Signal Corp Badge, Presidential Unit and Unit Commendation Medal, he was awarded 22 personal medals including two Bronze Stars, two Meritorious Service and two Army Commendation Medals. He retired in 1975 as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 at Fort McClellan, Alabama. After military retirement he attended Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts, earning a Bachelor in Education, with high honors. He received a Heinz Food Fellowship and continued his education achieving a Masters in Education. Before, during and after his military retirement he attended several colleges for different classes including Daytona Beach Community College, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Bridgewater State College, Southern Massachusetts University, University of Alabama, Auburn University and Jacksonville State University. In 1976, he went to work in the education field and continued for 13 years. He was an educator in two school districts, chosen Teacher of the Year in 1981 and 83. He achieved the award for Outstanding Educator Administrator in 1987. He was also employed at East Alabama Commission, the Area Agency on Aging in Anniston, Alabama. In 1995, he was inducted into the Alabama Senior Citizens Hall of Fame. He also won the Alabama Masters Games first Presidential Hall of Fame Award in 2000. In 2004, he received the International Society of Poetry Editors Choice Award for his poem The Rewards of Drinking. Vietnam War disabilities worsened and confined Paul to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He lived in a small country community in Eastaboga, Alabama with his wife and best friend of 30 years [living] Bows. Mr. Bows was preceded in death by his sons, Christopher Paul Downer and Paul Allen Bows, Jr.; one brother, Clinton Bows; and his parents, Clinton and Esther Bows.
     - "The Daily Home," Talladega, Alabama, Friday, August 26, 2005. Researched and transcribed by R. Boas, FindAGrave.com member number 47304667.

[Note: I am in possession of a chronology of Paul's military service and summary of his family group information, which he wrote and sent to me on 29 OCT 2003.]