Major Bowman was the pilot of a F-80C Shooting Star fighter interceptor with the 8th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 49th Fighter Bomber Group. On 8 October 1950, while on a combat mission near Pyongyang, North Korea, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burst into flames. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Bowman was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, 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.