U.S. Officer Slain in Manila; Was Vietnam POW

Gunmen killed an American military officer today as he was driving to work at the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group headquarters, U.S. and Filipino officials said.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Jerry Huchel said Army Lt. Col. James N. Rowe, 51, was hit by a single bullet in the back of the head. His body was flown to Clark Air Base, 50 miles north of Manila.

Rowe’s driver, Joaquin Benoya, was wounded in the attack but was able to drive two blocks to the heavily guarded headquarters of the U.S. Military Assistance Group in suburban Quezon City.

During the Vietnam War, Rowe was held prisoner by the Viet Cong in South Vietnam for five years before he made a dramatic escape.

A Filipino officer said Rowe was chief of the army division at the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group, which provides training and logistical support for the Filipino army.

Police said at least three people--two gunmen and a driver--were in the assailants’ car. One gunman had an M-16 and another had a .45 caliber pistol, they said.

Toto Austria, a cashier at a gasoline station, said he heard shots and turned to see a white car pull alongside Rowe’s silver-gray vehicle as the cars rounded a traffic circle. Austria said he saw the M-16 extending from a car window and firing at Rowe’s car.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, but Philippine military officials quickly blamed the Communist New People’s Army, which has been battling the government for 20 years.

Rowe, from McAllen, Tex., was a lieutenant in the U.S. Special Forces when he was captured by the Viet Cong in South Vietnam on Oct. 19, 1963. He escaped on Dec. 31, 1968, and evaded recapture for nine days before finally being picked up by a U.S. helicopter.

His book on the ordeal, “Five Years to Freedom,” detailed the disease and psychological and physical torment he endured as a Viet Cong prisoner.

Rowe was later chief of the Army’s survival, evasion, resistance and escape training, including training in anti-terrorism techniques, which was based in North Carolina.

In a 1969 interview printed in the Army Digest, Rowe attributed his Vietnam escape to “Special Forces survival training and faith in God. If you don’t have it you don’t make it.”

Rowe is survived by a wife and two small children, friends said.