The war in Iraq is distant to some students, but the reality of the conflict was hammered home when a local Marine died in action Oct. 11.

Lance Corporal Jon Eric Bowman, a Lincoln Parish resident, was a member of the Charlie Company, 1/6 Marines.

Jon Bowman was manning a .50 caliber machine gun in a HUMVEE in Falujah, Iraq when he was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device, more commonly known as a roadside bomb.

Since the war began three years ago, the death toll has continued to rise.

According to www.cnn.com, the American fatality toll in Iraq is 2,786 and approximately 21,077 U.S. service personnel have been wounded since the war began.

Dawn Bowman, Jon Bowman’s wife, said Jon Bowman truly lived and died for his country.

“I remember Jon’s favorite movie was ‘Troy’ and he always told me that if anything ever happened to him he wanted to be remembered as a hero,” Dawn Bowman said.

Jill Puckett, Jon Bowman’s mother and a resident of Lincoln Parish, said Bowman left for Iraq in his second deployment Sept. 10.

“There is an indescribable pride I feel for my son,” Puckett said. “He died not only for me but for everybody.”

Jon Bowman’s body was returned from Germany on Oct. 15.

The family was escorted by the police from Ruston to Jackson, Miss., and back.

“The whole way there and back there were people lined up with flags and banners, waving and saluting us,” Dawn Bowman said.

Dawn Bowman also said it was raining that afternoon and when people went out of their way to show respect it was very touching to her.

Emory Nolan, a senior art major, said he admires Jon Bowman for his heroism.

“You think, if my life would’ve gone a little differently then that could have been me,” Nolan said.

According to a recent, informal poll conducted by The Tech Talk, a majority of students — unlike Nolan — are apathetic or uninformed about the ongoing war in Iraq.

But Jon Bowman’s death brought the distant war home for some students when those students recognized that a family so close to their residence has been deeply affected by the war.

Jon Bowman is one of two Marines from North Louisiana that has died in battle in the past two weeks. Lance Corporal John Edward Hale, of Shreveport, was killed by an IED Oct. 7.

The student body can bring apathy to an end if students stay informed about the ongoing war.