'Until it hits home and happens to you, you can't understand'

The third U.S. soldier killed Sunday in Ashoque, Afghanistan, was Spc. Brian Bowman of Crawfordsville, Indiana. He died with Sgt. Josh Lengstorf, of Yoncalla, Oregon, and Pvt. John Dion, of Shattuck, Oklahoma, when terrorists attacked their unit with IED's and small arms fire.

According to the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Indiana, Bowman will most likely be buried at Woodland Heights Christian Church, where he was married on June 16, 2007. The 24-year-old soldier's wife, Casie Carter Bowman, flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday to meet her husband's flag-draped casket. Casie's sister spoke to the newspaper:

"Brian was a great guy," said Chelsea Roberts, sister of Casie Bowman. "He was a hero to our country and to my sister.

"Everybody is sad. Until it hits home and happens to you, you can't understand."

Roberts said that Casie Bowman, 28, met Brian Bowman while they were working summer jobs. Casie Bowman teaches elementary school in Colorado Springs, Colo., Roberts said.

"The Army has treated my sister well," Roberts said. "I'm not sure when Casie and my dad will return."

The Journal and Courier article said Bowman was a combat medic who joined the Army in August 2006 and deployed in May 2009. Along with his two fellow soldiers killed in action, he was stationed at Colorado's Fort Carson. According to the Associated Press, 38 U.S. soldiers stationed at the mountain post have been killed in Afghanistan, and another 255 in Iraq.

The Journal-Review reports that Crawfordsville, Indiana, Mayor Charlie Coons has ordered flags to half-staff in the hometown hero's honor. Even though it is 20 degrees in Crawfordsville right now, volunteers are also outside tying ribbons and hanging flags from utility poles.

This blog salutes Spc. Brian Bowman, Sgt. Josh Lengstorf, and Pvt. John Dion. It has been an honor to write about all three of these heroes who were taken from us far too soon.

Image courtesy: U.S. Army