AN AMERICAN HERO.

Byline: TOM SHARPE 

Friends and family of the first Santa Fe area man to die in the war in Afghanistan remember him as fun-loving, honest, hardworking, humble, loving, friendly, spontaneous, helpful and heroic.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Louis Bowles, 24, whose family has deep roots in the Pecos area, was killed March 15 when a bomb exploded beneath his vehicle near the town of Kot in eastern Afghanistan.

During a funeral service Monday at Calvary Chapel Santa Fe attended by more than 300 people, his cousin, Anthony Sena of Glorieta, recalled spending summers with Bowles and other childhood friends around Glorieta.

"When he said he joined the Air Force, I knew he had made the right decision," Sena said. "I was a little jealous because I knew my time with him would become less and less. ... When he told me he had volunteered for Afghanistan, I didn't want to believe him, but I knew Tim. It was in his blood to help those who needed him."

Marlon Figgs of Las Vegas, Nev., who said he was Bowles' best friend in high school in Tucson, Ariz., said if you asked for Bowles' advice, he would give it to you, but "sometimes it was what you didn't want to hear. ... He kept it honest."

But Figgs said Bowles had a humorous side, too: When he was stationed in Korea, he would call friends in the states in the middle of the night. Sometimes, he would make prank phone calls. Once, he ordered 100 tacos with a straight face.

Figgs said the two had a falling out that kept them from talking for a time, but eventually patched up their relationship. "As long as you don't let a mistake like that destroy you, it brought us closer together," he said. "He understood how important friends are. ...

"Tim was a rock for everybody. Remember, today's sorrow is tomorrow's joy. ... I can truly say he was an American hero. Once it hits home, you know it's time to get those boys out of there."

Air Force Staff Sgt. John Reddick, who knew Bowles in Korea and Alaska, said Bowles liked to starch his uniform so heavily that it "would stand up on its own," but kept his boots unshined and scuffed because he thought that was the way mechanics' boots should look.

Reddick said Bowles loved to go fishing in Alaska when he was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base and joked about how jealous his friends would be back in New Mexico. But he looked forward to getting packages from home of green chile that he would "put on everything," he said.

Bowles' family came to New Mexico generations ago to work in the Terrero mines. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska, when his father, a career airman, was stationed at Elmendorf. He grew up in Arizona and spent most summers with family in the Pecos area. His parents, Lisa and Louis Bowles Jr., moved to Glorieta full-time after his father retired from the Air Force in 2002 -- the same year Timothy joined the Air Force and became a fire-engine mechanic.

Bowles' flag-draped coffin was escorted back to New Mexico from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware by another cousin, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Third Class Thomas Bowles of Los Angeles. Military representatives presented his parents with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Air Force Combat Action Medal and the NATO Medal. Representatives of the Blue Star Mothers of New Mexico gave his mother a gold star, representing her son lost in battle.

Bowles was buried with full military honors Monday afternoon at Santa Fe National Cemetery. Flags around New Mexico are to be kept at half staff through today, according to an executive order by Gov. Bill Richardson. Bowles was the 61st New Mexican in the military to die in either Afghanistan or Iraq since late 2001, according to the state Department of Veterans' Services.

Contact Tom Sharpe

at 986-3080 or [e-mail].