This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Pvt Richard Barzelogna
to remember
Marine PFC Jesse Bowers.
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Jesse Eugene Bowers' last known employment was that of Construction Contractor in the Persian Gulf region.
Other Comments:
Jesse Eugene "Gene" Bowers was born 7-7-1923 in Baxley, Georgia.
Gene served in the USMC, 7-10-1942 through 10-15-1945, with most of his service being deployed in the Pacific Theater, with one 30 day leave home during autumn, 1945, in which he surprised his mother. He kept a framed patch of III Amphibious Corps and was very proud of his service with that unit.
He was a very active life member of DAV Jim Bowe Chapter 86, Flagler Beach, Florida, and VFW Flagler County Post 5213, Bunnell, Florida.
On 7-6-1980, he was murdered by his wife, Francis, with a single gun shot while visiting a friend and fellow USMC veteran/ VFW Life member in Bunnell, Florida. She was found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity in the subsequent murder trial that followed.
Northern Solomon Islands Campaign (1943-44)/Battle of Bougainville
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
January / 1944
Description After New Georgia, the next major operation was an invasion of the island of Bougainville, which was approached by landings at Mono and Stirling in the Treasury Islands on October 25-27, 1943. A Marine division landed on the west coast of Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay on November 1, 1943. The Marines were followed within the month by an Army division and replaced in the next month by another Army division.
It was late November before the beachhead at Empress Augusta Bay was secure. This beachhead was all that was needed, and no attempt was made to capture the entire island. Allied planes neutralized enemy airfields in the northern part of the island, and the Allied command made use of its naval and air superiority to contain the Japanese garrison on Bougainville and cut its supply line to Rabaul by occupying the Green Islands (February 14, 1944).
Despite these measures, the Japanese maintained pressure against the beachhead, mounting an especially heavy but unsuccessful counterattack as late as March 1944. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons. The Japanese sustained comparatively heavy air and naval losses during the campaign, which further crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet and had a vital effect on the balance of naval power in the Central Pacific.