Corporal Schowengerdt was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 22 March 1953. He was presumed dead on 23 March 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Schowengerdt was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.