In Memoriam: James Michael Rowell
July 15, 1948 - August 24, 2015
Thanks for visiting this site. My Dad would love to know the information here is still relevant and helpful to people. I am sad to note that he passed away in August of 2015. In his honor I keep this website up so that others can benefit and remember him by.
Sincerely, his son,
Jesse Rowell
| Company Net: 49-10 |
Battalion Net: 49-60 |
Medivac 33-00 |
Eager Arms |
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Aztec, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Mohawk Platoons |
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Bravo company memories from July 21, 1968 until July 21, 1969
Hello...My name is Jim Rowell. Today, I'm a retired law enforcement officer from the Atlanta, Georgia area. I retired in 1999, after two heart attacks, the last of which almost took my life. In 2005, just two weeks before hurricane Katrina would welcome us home, my wife and I moved back to the area where we grew up in NW Louisiana. We survived the hurricane.
Captain Peter O'Sullivan has asked me to write a history of Bravo company 2/8th Cavalry for the time period 1968 through 1969. But, no history of the First Cavalry Division's action during the Vietnam War can be written any better than the standard history written by Colonel J.D. Coleman. His book, "The 1st Air Cavalry Division Vietnam August 1965 to December 1969" was issued to lucky veterans DEROSing back to the "World." Colonel Coleman was the PIO (Public Information Officer) for the Division in 1969 when he wrote that history. I wasn't so lucky until I met the PIO for the Georgia Department of Public Safety in 1981. You guessed it, it was Colonel J.D. Coleman. At the time, I was a Homicide Sergeant for the DeKalb County Police Department. We were investigating the "Missing and Murdered Children" cases of Black children across the Atlanta metro area. One day, J. D., as I called him, mentioned he was writing a book about his time with the First Cavalry in Vietnam. Naturally, my ears lit up, and I told him I was a Cav veteran, too. He asked me when I was there, and I told him I was with Bravo company, 2/8th. His mouth dropped open, and he replied that he was the CO (Commanding Officer) of Bravo company when the Cav was shipped to Vietnam in 1965. In fact, it was he who gave the company it's call sign, EAGERARMS and named the platoons after Native American Indian tribes, Aztec, Blackfoot, Cheyenne and Mohawk. The first letters of each tribe were designated each of the platoons. I could not have been more surprised!
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