In Memory OfS1/c Walter J. Gowens

S1/c Walter J. Gowens, 90, U.S. Navy, born in Spring Garden, Alabama, June 24, 1924, passed away on March 13, 2015. Gowens served aboard the carrier USS Lexington (CV-16). He joined in 1944 and saw the Pacific war to its end, helping liberate the Philippines. An avid farmer and fisherman, he loved his community, followed basketball and football, and backed his old Spring Garden High School. For his service, Gowens earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal. Fair winds and following seas, Shipmate! Til Valhalla, Brother!