Army Master Sgt. Jamal H. Bowers

Died March 18, 2011 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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41, of Raleigh, N.C.; assigned to 6th Battalion, 4th Military Information Support Group, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died March 18 at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, as a result of a non-combat incident.

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Soldier remembered for dedication to family

The Associated Press

Family and friends recalled Jamal Bowers as a spiritual man, always smiling and dedicated to his family.

Latricia Fletcher wrote in an online memorial that she always remembered his kindness when they met at church.

“I will always remember Mr. Bowers smiling as he would open the doors for us to enter the sanctuary,” Fletcher wrote.

Bowers joined the Army in 1999 as a combat engineer, and in 2001 he was qualified in psychological operations. He had worked as an instructor in psychological operations, Army spokesman Mark Schulz told The Fayetteville Observer.

Bowers, 41, died March 18 in Djibouti. Schulz said Bowers was found dead at Camp Lemonier. He had been feeling ill the day before his death. He was assigned to Fort Bragg.

The newspaper at the Army post, Paraglide, had reported last year that Bowers’ son, also named Jamal, deployed at the same time to a different place. Both father and son had completed airborne training, and the pair did a jump together at Fort Bragg.

“It was an awesome moment,” the elder Bowers told Paraglide. “Once in a lifetime moment for me.”