 
|
 |
 
Jack was "unique." I have made a habit of using one descriptive word, when one Marine describes another..and that is .."He was a Good Marine." No other superlative says more. I also like to think of the best way one might remember him, and I would say simply this..."Jack did it all!"
Jack passed away doing what he liked to do best in his retired lifestyle.. He suffered a massive heart attack as he was about to go tuna fishing in Harbor, Oregon. He died the following day on the 27th of September in a hospital with all his family present. This includes his wife Diane who he married 54 years ago on the day of his graduation from Officers Basic School in December 1951. Also present was his oldest daughter, Dana from Sidney, Australia, Brett, of Playa Del Rey, Calif, Jan, of Irvine, Calif and and Lynn, of Eagle, Colorado.. Jack and Diane both enjoyed an adopted son, Harry "Rags" Laragione of San Diego. Also surviving are nine grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Jack was born on December 7, 1927 which I jokingly liked to remind him was a "Day Of Infamy." He was the son of Ester and Robert Rowley of Spokane, Washington.
He entered the Marine Corps as a Private in 1945 and served until 1946. He graduated in 1951 with a BA in Business Administration from Gonzaga University. He re-entered the Marine Corps as an officer in 1951.
His 30 years in the Marine Corps are historical in nature. He easily qualifies as a legend in his own time.
He served in Korea in March 1952 for a year. In the late 1950's he was an advisor to the Chinese Marine Corps in Taiwan.
After various stateside tours including Commanding Officer, Marine Barracks in Bangor, Washington, he was Officer In Charge of the Drill Instructor's School, Paris Island,
Jack held all the staff and Commanding Officer billets in the Assault Amphibian and Armored Amtrac Battalions which included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Amphibian Vehicle Battalions.
In 1966 he was Commanding Officer of the 3rd Amtrac Battalion in Chu Lai, Vietnam. He then took over Chesty Puller's Battalion, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines In DaNang.
In addition, he Commanded the 1st, 5th and 9th Marine Regiments. Of his 30 years on active duty, he was in Command billets for 19 years. I know of no other Marine with such a record.
During his tour as Inspector-Instructor, 4th Amtrac Battalion in Tampa, Florida, he will always be fondly remembered by those whose lives he touched while having to make Casualty Calls. These calls required having to notify Marine families of wounded or deceased Marines during the Vietnam era. No one in the Marine Corps was more gentle, more helpful, and represented all the good things Marines are remembered for in the conduct of that awesome wartime task.
After his return from Vietnam in 1967, Jack was in the billet as Program Manager for the research and development of the LVTPX-12 and LVTP-7 in the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington. In served in this billet until the vehicle was approved for production in 1972.
In 1974 he was Officer In Charge of the Base Camp at Mt. Fuji, Japan and then took over as CO, 9th Marines on Okinawa.
One of his most memorable tours was that of Commanding Officer, Marine Barracks in Guam, in 1981. He was in charge of security and coordinating the efforts to process over 80,000 Vietnam refugees.
Before his retirement, Jack finished as Special Services Officer at Camp Pendleton, California. During that tour he concentrated on the expansion of recreational activities, including docking and sailing facilities at Camp DelMar. His beach and ocean facilities programs remains a recreational haven for all active duty Marine/Navy families as well as those retired military in the Oceanside are.
He and Diane moved to Brookings, Or. in their motor home in 1986 to visit friends and to go fishing. After yearly visits they bought a home and settled in Harbor, in 1994.
A Celebration Of Life will be held Monday, October 2nd, 2006 at 4 PM in the Recreation Center of the Driftwood Mobile Home Park, W. Hoffeldt Road, Harbor, Oregon.
To his legions of friends and fellow Marines, and to those who would like to be remembered to the family, their address is as follows:
The Rowley Family
Tel: 541-469-9461
email.. jnbarnard@nwtec.com
Memorial donations may be made to Oasis House, PO Box 932, Gold Beach, Or. 97445.
Future internment plans are being given to Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, Calif.
God Bless you and keep you, Jack Rowley..
Semper Fidelis... Stub Chace
She is the object of beauty and strength, and I stand, and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea, and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: "There! She's gone!" Gone where? Gone from my sight..that's all. She is just as large in mast, and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me. not in her, and just at that moment when someone at my size says "There! She Gone!"... there are other eyes watching her coming and other voices to take up her glad shout... "There she Comes!" 
|
