Major Bowen was a Major in the U.S. Army who oversaw Colinas de Oro War Relocation Center, a Japanese internment camp as its chief.
On The Terror: Infamy, Major Bowen was portrayed by C. Thomas Howell.
History[]
He encountered Chester Nakayama and a group of his fellow residents and asked Chester if he was working hard. He asked for Chester's name, then said that he once knew a Nakayama, or maybe a Nakamura, who was "a hell of a gardener." He told the group to build him a nice, solid fence so that nobody would go AWOL and left. The group called him an "jackass" in Japanese. Later, he takes on Amy Yoshida as a secretary after learning from her mother Fumi that she knows shorthand and can type 60 words per minute. ("Gaman")
After MP Nessler, one of the soldiers at the camp, committed suicide, he led a raid throughout the camp's dormitories for contraband saké that he believed got him drunk. This led him to the Yoshida family barracks, where he was disappointed to find saké under the floorboards. After Amy's brother Walt professed to having made it, he had him sent to the stockade. ("The Weak Are Meat")
He expressed irritation at when the residents of the Colinas de Oro complained about having to fill out the Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry, a loyalty questionnaire. He noted to Amy that it was a a simple thirty question questionnaire, half of the questions being "yes" or "no" answers and should take no more than ten minutes to complete. Later, when Amy's boyfriend Ken Uehara tried to rouse the residents of the camp against the survey, he warned her that he was aware of their relationship, stating that he knew what went on in the barracks, even the ones that were supposed to be empty. ("Shatter Like a Pearl")
After Chester Nakayama tried to escape from the camp, he oversaw Chester's transport out of the camp on a convoy headed to the high security facility Tule Lake. Chester's adoptive mother, Asako, tried to appeal to him on the basis that Chester was a fellow soldier, asking him to show mercy. He stated that he already shown too much mercy.
That night, he heard a disturbance and encountered the Bakemono Yuko Tanabe exiting a men's barrack. He asked her what she was doing, but she simply ignored him. He told her that he would show her who ran the place and grabbed her. In response, she possessed him, leaving him in an awful state. He returned to his barracks, where Amy tried to inform him of a medical emergency at the camp, only for him to rant and rave that he couldn't get anyone at the camp to look him in the eye because of them knowing something he didn't. He was in no fit state to deal with the soldiers who arrived to tell him of Chester Nakayama's escape from the convoy.
Later, Ken Uehara showed up at his barracks, again attempting to get help in regards to the medical emergency at the camp, a sudden outbreak of a dangerous lung illness. Bowen, however, asked if "she" had sent him, saying that the camp wasn't his idea and he didn't like being locked up either. He knocked Ken to the ground and they fought, Ken winning the struggle, knocking him out and taking possession of his gun. Ken planned to set up a hostage situation in which he would force Bowen to call for medical help, but Bowen proved to be a tough nut to crack. The situation was rendered moot when Amy learned of the state of affairs and took things into her own hands, calling for ambulances in Bowen's name. Afterwards, Ken released Bowen and was taken into custody by his MPs, ostensibly to be taken to Tule Lake. Bowen, however, instead had his men shoot Ken dead. That evening, he had her tend to his injuries, calling her a good girl and warning her about men like Ken who take advantage of the vulnerable. Unknown to him, Amy was recording their entire conversation as he spoke of "putting down" Ken. ("My Perfect World")
Amy Yoshida kills Major Bowen
In or around January 1945, he was sent away to Washington D.C. When he returned, Amy was worried that he seemed to be acting as normal, as she had sent the tape to the WRA in an attempt to expose him. He even told her that he found a sponsor for her, someone who would allow her to leave the camp in order to do secretarial work for them. She joined him as he drove out into the forest in order to help a broken-down vehicle which was carrying supplies for a surprise party for her and her brother Walt, who also returned with Bowen, having served a tour with the 442nd Infantry. During the party, Amy told Walt that she thought she was in the clear, because she was worried that Bowen was after her, but the party changed her mind. After the party, however, she staggered around outside, badly drunk from her punch. She met Bowen and then blacked out. Bowen tied her to a chair and gagged her. He told her that the WRA did, in fact, receive the tape, but a loyal buddy of his made sure that nobody ever found out. He told her that they could discuss the situation and their future together, but when he removed the gag, she screamed for help. He told her that there was nobody to hear her as they were all on the other end of camp. He spoke of almost regretting that the camp ever existed, that they were softening him up. Then Chester Nakayama attacked his MPs, Ken took him hostage and she sent the recording. In response, Amy spat at him, and she broke his wrist. The lights went out, and he complained about the power at the camp. Sensing an opportunity, Amy spoke of the yurei, saying that all of the Japanese at the camp knew the place was haunted by Yuko Tanabe. She secretly loosened the rope around her wrists. She told him that the yurei liked dark places, asking if she should call for her, or just have her possess one of them. When the lights went out again, she escaped from the chair. She got the drop on him, smashing him with the chair and then choking him to death. ("My Sweet Boy")
He was considered missing, forcing George Nicol to take his place. In his place, Nicol announced the closure of the Colinas de Oro War Relocation Center by order of the United States Supreme Court. ("Come and Get Me")
Further Notes[]
- Major Bowen is a World War I veteran. He fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood.
- It is unknown if Bowen really did believe in the yurei. When Yuko possessed him, he appeared terrified. He tells Ken about "oriental magic" haunting the place, but later rebukes by saying he was faking it. In the basement, he complains about the camp being haunted, though this may be merely out of frustration. He dies before it could be revealed whether he believed in it or not.