PFC Thomas Artt “Tom” Bowle (17135362 or 17145362)) was born January 4, 1923 in Delta, Delta County, Colorado. He graduated from Delta High School in 1941 and enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 23, 1943. He was assigned to Company E, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division (“Black Panther”), ETOUSA Army Group. The 66th trained in the U.S. then went overseas to England in November-December 1944.

The 66th Division crossed the English Channel on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1944 bound for combat on the Continent to replace the troops at the Battle of the Bulge. PFC Bowle was aboard the SS Léopoldville which was was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-486 at 2040 hours. There were 763 American soldiers killed and the bodies of 493, including PFC Bowle, were never recovered from the English Channel. Of the 2,235 American servicemen on board, approximately 515 are presumed to have gone down with the ship. Another 248 died from injuries, drowning, or hypothermia, before ever entering battle. PFC Bowle was 21 years old.