Tragedy and its evolving triumph
Fifty years ago, one of Antigonish’s finest tragically drowned in the cold, stormy waters of Navy Bay at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont. during the running of the Recruit Obstacle Race.
Anthony Daniel Bowie was one of 10 sons and two daughters who John and Veronica Bowie raised in our community. Military service played a big role in the family. Both John and Veronica served during the Second World War. John served in Italy, France and Holland as part of the 12th Field Company Royal Canadian Engineers. Veronica served in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service in both Newfoundland and British Columbia.
Three other sons had served in the Canadian Forces but Anthony was the first one who had applied to the prestigious Royal Military College. His stellar grades at Antigonish Regional High School, along with his community involvement in 4-H, served him well and he was enrolled into the RMC Recruit Camp in August 1972.
The life of a recruit at RMC is not an easy one. The obstacle course is a severe test of the recruit’s resolve to join their fellow cadets and take their rightful place on the parade square alongside their peers in the cadet wing. The honour of joining the wing is not handed to the recruit on a silver platter; they have to fight for it with everything they have. The second-year cadets who engineered the course make sure of that.
But something broke down in the execution of the recruit obstacle course on Sept. 29, 1972. On that tragic day, Anthony paid the ultimate price as he went down under the water one last time, never to surface alive again; buried beneath the cold, storm waves of Navy Bay.
On that day Antigonish lost one of their sons. And RMC lost one of its soldiers. Actually, RMC lost a lot more than that. RMC lost the illusion that despite all the mottos and good intentions, the Recruit Obstacle Race was, in fact, just that: a race and not a co-operative team-building
exercise.
Anthony’s tragic death served as a catalyst to make radical transformative changes to the way subsequent Recruit Obstacle Courses were designed, organized and run at RMC. The military college system responded to the dichotomy that Anthony’s death presented and instituted change so future runnings of the Recruit Obstacle Course re-enforced a co-operative teamwork doctrine. RMC took steps to ensure that the Recruit Obstacle Course is conducted in alignment with the development of young officers who will one day find themselves responsible for the lives of many. And because of that, although there is still a tremendous element of tragedy associated with Anthony’s untimely death, it’s not the only thing that is remembered when we think back of Anthony Daniel Bowie.
It was triumph that was celebrated with the inaugural presentation of the Anthony Daniel Bowie Memorial Medallion at RMC Kingston on Sept. 24, 2022. The medallion, presented by Anthony’s brother Petty Officer 1st
Class (Ret’d) Jim Bowie, was awarded to the recruit who best exemplified the characteristics of determination and the genuine concern for the well being of others during the First Year Orientation Program (formerly know as the recruit term). This will be an ongoing tradition at RMC for years to come in memory and recognition of one of Antigonish’s finest.