"Collin was 5-feet nothing, 175 pounds of pure muscle and heart," Maj. T.J. Sullins, the soldier's former company commander, said before the Mass. "He never said, `We can't do it that way, sir,'" Sullins said, blinking back tears. "He said, `We'll figure out a way to do it, sir.'"
During his year in Afghanistan, Sergeant Bowen was a mentor for the Afghan police and then the Afghan National Army, said Master Sgt. Jeffrey Lowe, the team noncommissioned officer in charge when Sergeant Bowen was deployed overseas. He was particularly conscientious about helping the people of Afghanistan, and especially the children there, Master Sergeant Lowe said. "He was always concerned that we were doing the right thing. That we were not doing the minimum."
At the end of the Mass, mourners sang "America the Beautiful," then filed out between two rows of veterans holding fluttering flags. The Patriot Guard Riders had traveled there by motorcycle at the family's request to pay homage and accompany the funeral procession to Arlington National Ceremony, where Sergeant Bowen was buried.
