James N. Rowe

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James Nicholas "Nick" Rowe (February 8, 1938–April 21, 1989), United States military officer, was one of only thirty-four American POWs to escape captivity during the Vietnam War.

Rowe was assigned as Executive Officer of Detachment A-23, 5th Special Forces Group, a 12-man "A-team" in Vietnam in 1963. Located at Tan Phu in An Xuyen Province, A-23 organized and advised a Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. On October 29, 1963, after only three short months in the Republic of Vietnam, then-Lieutenant Rowe was captured along with Captain Rocky Versace and Sgt. Daniel Pitzer. Separated from his comrades, Lt. Rowe spent 62 months in captivity with only brief encounters with fellow American POWs, until finally escaping from his Vietnamese captors on December 31, 1968. He authored the book, Five Years to Freedom ISBN 0-345-31460-3, a gripping account of his years in captivity.

Colonel Rowe retired from the U.S. Army in 1974. In 1981 Colonel Rowe was recalled to active duty to design and build a course based upon his experience as a POW. Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is now a requirement for graduation from the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course. SERE is taught at the Colonel James "Nick" Rowe Training compound at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. It is considered by many to be the most important advanced training in the special operations field. Navy, Air Force and Marine Special Operations personnel all attend variations of this course taught by their respective services.

In 1987, Colonel Rowe was assigned as the chief of the Army division of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG), providing counter-insurgency training for the Philippine military. Working closely with the CIA, he was involved in its nearly decade-old program to penetrate the communist New People's Army (NPA) in conjunction with Philippine's own intelligence organizations.

By February 1989, Colonel Rowe had developed his own intelligence information which indicated that the communist were planning a major terrorist act. Rowe wrote Washington warning that a high-profile figure was about to be hit and that he, himself, was No. 2 or No. 3 on the terrorist list. On April 21, 1989, while returning to the U.S. Embassy in an armored limousine, Colonel Rowe's vehicle was hit by gunfire. Twenty-one shots hit his vehicle, one round entered through a slightly open window and struck Colonel Rowe. He was killed instantly. Members of the communist New People's Army (NPA) claimed responsibility for his assassination.

There are suspicions that Colonel Rowe was specifically targeted for retaliation by the communist insurgents because of his escaped Vietnam POW status. However, definitive proof has yet to be discovered.

A high school and street in the South Texas city of McAllen are named in his memory, as is a training facility, Rowe Hall, at the US Army Intelligence Center and School, Fort Huachuca, AZ.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

[edit] External links

• "U.S. Gives Philippines Lukewarm Reminder to Keep Col. Rowe's Killers in Jail", U.S. Veteran Dispatch, February/March 1995 Issue.

The source who wished to remain anonymous said that prior to Rowe being assigned to the Philippines in 1987, at one point in Greece while Rowe was on assignment, Delta Force, the U.S. anti-terrorist organization, moved in, secured the area and relocated Rowe. They had received reports that Vietnamese communist agents were planning an action against Rowe. "He was a target when he went over there because of his dealings with the North Vietnamese and his time as a prisoner," Robert Mountel, a retired Special Forces colonel and former commander of the 5th Special Forces Group, subsequently explained, confirming what the other source had said. "They had him on their list." Despite the clear danger especially posed to Rowe and other intelligence operatives, Rowe was not given a heavily armored car to travel in.