COL James "Nick" Rowe: KIA this day, 1 April 1989 in the Philippines

On April 1, 1989, Colonel James Rowe, a legendary Green Beret, was killed by rebel group hit squad in the Philippines. Rowe was being driven to work at the JUSMAG (Joint United States Military Advisory Group) headquarters in Quezon City shortly after 7 in the morning when gunmen fired more than 20 bullets into his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at a nearby military hospital.

Philippine officials believed the killers were members of the New People's Army's (NPA) Alex Boncayao Brigade, although no group claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, the NPA have threatened to attack American targets unless the United States closes its military bases in the Philippines and end its support of the Philippine military's fight against the insurgency. Rowe was involved in helping the Philippine anti-insurgency campaign.

In the fall of 1963, Colonel Rowe, then a first lieutenant in the US Army Special Forces serving as an adviser to South Vietnamese irregulars, was captured by Vietcong guerrillas in the Mekong River delta. He was held in jungle camps from which he tried repeatedly to escape. For much of his captivity he was held in a bamboo cage and permitted to venture only 40 yards during the day. He busied himself chopping firewood and setting traps to capture small animals to supplement his diet of rice and fish.

On December 31, 1968, he succeeded in escaping and was spotted by a crew of an American helicopter, which lifted him to safety.

In 1985, Colonel Rowe was placed in command of the First Special Warfare Training Battalion at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, a post he held until last May 1985, when he went to the Philippines. While at Fort Bragg, COL Rowe was the driving force behind the creation of the USAJFKSWC Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion (SERE) course, considered the best of it's type across all services.

Colonel James Rowe was 51. He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.

DIA Honors COL Nick Rowe

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Charlottesville dedicated a building today to a former prisoner of war, and Army Special Forces colonel who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

Alex Rowe didn't have the chance to get to know his father, but he certainly knows his father's legacy. “It gives you chills,” says Rowe. “While I was sitting there I said wow that my dad they are talking about.”

On Friday, the DIA dedicated a building at Rivanna Station in Charlottesville in honor of Alex's father, Colonel James Nicholas Rowe, who was killed on duty in 1989. Colonel Rowe was a captured by the Viet Cong in 1963, and was brutally tortured as a prisoner of war for five years. “He attempted escape three times," Lt. General Michael Flynn said. "The fourth time, basically when he was being taken to where he was going to be executed he managed to escape.”

Col. Rowe used his experience as a POW to help the Army create a survival course for service members who risk capture. Today the DIA and the facility that will bare Rowe's name helps locate service members who are POWs or MIA (missing in action). “We have the mission to look at every piece of intelligence that is out there to try and bring them back home,” said Lt. General Flynn. "What they do in their daily lives try to protect our solider and try to make sure they can survive while they are in captivity, that’s incredible,” says Alex Rowe.

Although Alex was only 2-years-old was his father was killed while serving in the Philippines, he says hearing stories about his father helps bring him to life. “The man that I knew for two years was just dad to me, but for them and for the United States he was so much more.” The SERE Course Colonel Rowe helped create has be taught to more than 100,000 service men and women over the past 30 years.

Alittle bit of Nick Rowe in the video below.