Duty Honor & Privilege: The Making of a Marine Mustang

Gene Bowyer was born and raised in West Virginia and was the second of eight children. Gene enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1949 at the age of 17. This was the result of World War II and his dream of becoming a Marine. Over the next twenty-one years he served in several stateside duty stations and various overseas assignments. Gene served with the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion 1st Marin Division FMF in Vietnam in 1967-68 and was involved in the Tet offensive in January - February 1968. Gene enlisted as a Private and was fortunate to have worked his way through the ranks and retired with the rank of Captain in 1970. This is a brief description of some of the events he experiences during his career while in the Marine Corps and subsequently upon his retirement. It also touches on his affiliation with the Marine Corps League a veterans organization which he now is able to maintain some of the camaraderie once experienced when on active duty.