Lieutenant Junior Grade Rowe was the pilot of an AD-4 Skyraider dive bomber with Attack Squadron 65 aboard the USS Boxer (CVA-21). On 18 June 1952, while on a combat mission over North Korea, his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near Hungnam, North Korea. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Rowe was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.