After a long prestigious career as the United States Army and traveling the world, Bowers has spent his military retirement gardening and living a more quiet life.
“He’s always had a green thumb, he truly enjoyed gardening,” his son, Lyle Bowers said. “When he and my mom moved to Bethany Village, he rented a plot of land to garden and grow vegetables. He used to bring them back for his neighbors. I used to tell him he grew enough to feed a whole village.”
On Saturday, Bowers celebrated his birthday with his children and grandchildren.
Bowers grew up in a small town in Dickens, Iowa, raised on a farm. His career began when he was drafted in the military during World War II. When he was stationed in Panama, he met his wife, Arleen.
As a lieutenant colonel during the period after World War II, when General Eisenhower served as Supreme Allied Commander of the European reconstruction, Verne served as a top aide to Ike.
He went on to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Bowers retired as Major General of the Army (two stars) and served as the Adjutant General of the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1975. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit by the U.S. Congress and President.
While serving he attended the Harvard School of Business and received several degrees in business. According to Lyle when he came back to the United States, he wanted to put his education and experiences to work.
Bowers settled down in Dayton and worked for former law firm, Smith & Schnacke as the administrator for nearly a decade before retiring.
“He’s a private person, he never really mentioned his career in the military,” Lyle said.
Bill Serr, former Graceworks CEO, knew Verne for 30 years before discovering his military career.
“I discovered in an online article that he had been a top aide to General Eisenhower during the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe. When I asked Verne about it he acted like it was no big deal and only shared one anecdote about Eisenhower,” Serr said.
According to Lyle, his father was always humble and separated his family life from the military. He keeps a signed photo of Eisenhower in his room at Bethany Village.
His wife Arleen passed in 2007. They had two children, six grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
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