“Today, Veterans Day is dedicated to the soldiers in all conflicts fought by U.S. armed forces, both past and present,” said American Legion Post 75 Commander Marvin Hermanns. “This is an opportunity for the public to acknowledge their sacrifices, patriotism and dedication to freedom. Freedom is paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of our men and women in the armed forces who have selfishly given their service, and sometimes their lives, to defend and preserve the Constitution, Bill of Rights and many freedoms that we have and too often, take for granted.”
The Cortez Journal sat across from Becky and Bobby Cowan at Tuesday’s breakfast. They graciously agreed to share their story over pancakes, sausage links, scrambled eggs and coffee.
It was 1977. Bobby Cowan was 17, and he wanted to put his hometown of Cortez in the rearview mirror. He did so by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. Cowan quickly recalled a man jumping around, screaming when he arrived on his first naval base in San Diego.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “And the way that instructor was acting, I don’t think he knew what was happening either.”
Three years later, at age 19, Becky Cowan packed her belongings and left Dolores. She was headed to California to join her high school sweetheart. She had met Bobby Cowan at a cousin’s birthday party a few years earlier.
“I was scared to death,” she recalled Tuesday. “I had never been anywhere outside of Montezuma County.”
During Cowan’s 25-year military career, he served as an onboard firefighter, welder and paramedic, to name a few. He especially enjoyed serving as a survival instructor, training military personnel how to endure enemy capture.
“The skills I learned in the Navy prepared me for life outside the military,” said the current Kinder Morgan pipeline controller.
Becky Cowan said the military also made her stronger. Her husband was sometimes deployed for nine months at a time, forcing her to occasionally serve as both parents to the couple’s two children.
“Being a military wife and family wasn’t always easy,” she said. “We all had to make sacrifices.”
The couple spent a few years in Guam and some time in Washington State, but for the most part raised their children in California. Cowan added she was thankful for the opportunity to serve as a military wife and mother.
“Living in San Diego, our children were exposed to more diversity,” she said. “I think that allowed them to be more open-minded today.”
Despite leaving Montezuma County as teenagers, both agreed, after he retired from the military, to put California in the rearview mirror. The couple, anticipating their 35th wedding anniversary next summer, returned to their roots in 2007.
“Our families still live here,” said Bobby Cowan. “Plus I like to hunt and fish.”
“This is home,” she added.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
