Capt. Mark Russell McDowell
Born: June 3, 1983 in Charlotte, North Carolina
Died: July 17, 2009, Afghanistan
Capt. Mark R. McDowell of Colorado Springs, Colorado grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina where he attended Cornelius Elementary and later Brawley Middle in Mooresville. He graduated from South Iredell High School in Statesville, North Carolina. It was in the eighth grade that he began researching military service, later focusing on the Air Force. A combination of his grades, athletics, and volunteer work that included tutoring not only drew an admission to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, but a full scholarship he could have used elsewhere. Mark graduated from the Academy in 2005. It was in Colorado that he met his future wife, Katie, who also graduated from the academy in 2006. The couple married Thanksgiving weekend in 2007. The husband and wife duo both deployed in April, she went to Iraq, he went to Afghanistan. It seemed that Mark was born to fly, he talked about it all the time. He was scheduled to come home in six weeks. Mark died at age 26 in a F-15E crash near Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. His awards and Decorations include, Bronze Star, Air Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border, Air Force Longevity Service with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Training Ribbon, and the NATO Medal. He leaves behind his wife, Katherine, parents, Stan and Karen McDowell, and Bill and Barbara Thomas, brothers, Joey, William, ‘B’ Hoover, Wayne Link, Josh Link and a sister, Kristy; grandmother, Mrs. Irene Mertz, grandparents, Rev. and Mrs. G.W. McDowell among others.
Air Force
336th Fighter Squadron
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina
Burial is at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia – Sec 60 Site 8944
The Capt. Mark Russell McDowell by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
