Army Staff Sgt Bowen was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
He was riding in a humvee with four other soldiers to provide security for Afghanistan's presidential election when it hit an IED.
Clayton graduated from Churchill High School and joined the Army in 1998 at the age of 17. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne All American Chorus where he sang bass, and served as a drill sergeant and a shooting instructor before being deployed to Afghanistan in February.
Clayton was to return home on leave in September and be home for his 30th birthday.
He was the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Only about a month before he was killed, he received a package that made his fellow soldiers jaws drop. They were based at a remote Afghanistan outpost with crude and rudimentary living conditions. Inside the package was a collection of heavy-duty construction tools the soldiers would use to improve their living and sleeping quarters. Clayton had asked his folks, who publish a construction industry newspaper, to print an ad asking for donations and the tools poured in. All he wanted to do was make life a little more bearable for his fellow soldiers.
Clayton was a compassionate and caring person – this last act of generosity told the story of what a great man he was.
He was riding in a humvee with four other soldiers to provide security for Afghanistan's presidential election when it hit an IED.
Clayton graduated from Churchill High School and joined the Army in 1998 at the age of 17. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne All American Chorus where he sang bass, and served as a drill sergeant and a shooting instructor before being deployed to Afghanistan in February.
Clayton was to return home on leave in September and be home for his 30th birthday.
He was the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Only about a month before he was killed, he received a package that made his fellow soldiers jaws drop. They were based at a remote Afghanistan outpost with crude and rudimentary living conditions. Inside the package was a collection of heavy-duty construction tools the soldiers would use to improve their living and sleeping quarters. Clayton had asked his folks, who publish a construction industry newspaper, to print an ad asking for donations and the tools poured in. All he wanted to do was make life a little more bearable for his fellow soldiers.
Clayton was a compassionate and caring person – this last act of generosity told the story of what a great man he was.
Army Staff Sgt Bowen was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
He was riding in a humvee with four other soldiers to provide security for Afghanistan's presidential election when it hit an IED.
Clayton graduated from Churchill High School and joined the Army in 1998 at the age of 17. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne All American Chorus where he sang bass, and served as a drill sergeant and a shooting instructor before being deployed to Afghanistan in February.
Clayton was to return home on leave in September and be home for his 30th birthday.
He was the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Only about a month before he was killed, he received a package that made his fellow soldiers jaws drop. They were based at a remote Afghanistan outpost with crude and rudimentary living conditions. Inside the package was a collection of heavy-duty construction tools the soldiers would use to improve their living and sleeping quarters. Clayton had asked his folks, who publish a construction industry newspaper, to print an ad asking for donations and the tools poured in. All he wanted to do was make life a little more bearable for his fellow soldiers.
Clayton was a compassionate and caring person – this last act of generosity told the story of what a great man he was.
He was riding in a humvee with four other soldiers to provide security for Afghanistan's presidential election when it hit an IED.
Clayton graduated from Churchill High School and joined the Army in 1998 at the age of 17. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne All American Chorus where he sang bass, and served as a drill sergeant and a shooting instructor before being deployed to Afghanistan in February.
Clayton was to return home on leave in September and be home for his 30th birthday.
He was the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Only about a month before he was killed, he received a package that made his fellow soldiers jaws drop. They were based at a remote Afghanistan outpost with crude and rudimentary living conditions. Inside the package was a collection of heavy-duty construction tools the soldiers would use to improve their living and sleeping quarters. Clayton had asked his folks, who publish a construction industry newspaper, to print an ad asking for donations and the tools poured in. All he wanted to do was make life a little more bearable for his fellow soldiers.
Clayton was a compassionate and caring person – this last act of generosity told the story of what a great man he was.
Gravesite Details
SSG, US Army, Afghanistan
