Army Cpl. Kevin S. Mowl

Died February 25, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Pittsford, N.Y.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Feb. 25 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., of wounds sustained in Baghdad, Iraq, on Aug. 2, 2007, when the vehicle he was in encountered an improvised explosive device.

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Soldier dies 6 months after being hurt in Iraq

The Associated Press

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — A western New York soldier wounded six months ago in an explosion in Iraq has died in a military hospital in Maryland.

Army Cpl. Kevin Mowl of the Rochester suburb of Pittsford was 22 when he died Monday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

Mowl suffered multiple broken bones and a head injury Aug. 2 when a roadside bomb flipped his vehicle in Baghdad. Three others died, and 11 soldiers and an interpreter were injured.

President Bush presented Mowl with a Purple Heart and a Presidential Medallion at the hospital in December.

Mowl recently suffered a serious infection after part of his feeding tube broke and perforated his intestines.

Since Mowl was injured, his family has kept a Web page chronicling his recovery. The page, which received more than 70,000 visits in six months, will include funeral plans once they are made.

Mowl was sent to Iraq in June 2006 and patrolled with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Lewis, Wash.

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Soldier wanted to work in conflict resolution

The Associated Press

Last year while on leave, Army Spc. Kevin S. Mowl visited the Rochester School for the Deaf, where his father was superintendent. He told the students about Iraq, his sense of purpose, and how he handed out candy to children.

Some students were thrilled to meet him in person and impressed with his sign language. “We don’t know a lot of soldiers here,” said Derrick Behm, a senior. “We are all deaf, and we can’t be soldiers. We don’t get to meet those kind of people very often.”

Mowl, 22, of Pittsford, N.Y., died Feb. 25 at the National Naval Medical Center of wounds he suffered in Baghdad on Aug. 2, 2007, when his vehicle was struck by an explosive. He was assigned to Fort Lewis.

Mowl loved to drive around in the family’s yellow Toyota Celica.

He started karate as a youngster and earned a black belt in his teens.

He wanted to become a teacher, but had picked up some Arabic and thought he could build a career out of conflict resolution, said his father, Harold Mowl Jr. “I often hear that when boys go into the Army, they come out as men. Kevin was a perfect example of that.”

He also is survived by his mother, Mary.