John Rowan (born September 18, 1945) is an American

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran and the sixth national president of the

Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is th ...

(VVA).

Early life, education and military service

Rowan was born on September 18, 1945, in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York City. He was educated at the

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of th ...

, and he attended Baruch College but did not graduate. Instead, he learned Indonesian at the

Defense Language Institute The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other f ...

and Vietnamese in Washington, D.C., before serving in the Vietnam War. In 1967, in the midst of the

, Rowan joined the U.S. Air Force Security Service as a linguist. He "flew in planes over North Vietnam with a team listening in on the enemy's communications and translating them into English to guide or warn American pilots." After the war, Rowan attended Queen's College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science. He attended graduate school at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, where he earned a master's degree in Urban Affairs.

Career and civic activities

Rowan spent his career in the public sector. He was an investigator for the

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

's Office until 2002. Rowan became a member of the Council of Vietnam Veterans, later known as the Vietnam Veterans of America, in 1978. He was a founding member of its chapter in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

in 1981. From 1995 to 2005, he was the president of the VVA's New York State Council from 1995 to 2005. Since 2005, he has served as its sixth national president. He has raised awareness about the high rate of PTSD among Vietnam War veterans. He has also worked with the Vietnamese Veterans Association to find missing U.S. veterans of the war who died on Vietnamese soil. Rowan serves on the advisory board of the New York City Department of Veterans' Affairs, where he represents Queens.

Personal life

With his wife Mariann, Rowan resides in

Middle Village, New York Middle Village is a mainly residential neighborhood in the central section of the borough of Queens, New York City, bounded to the north by the Long Island Expressway, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue and the forme ...

References

External links

John Rowan
on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Vietnam Veterans of America
Living people 1945 births People from Queens, New York Brooklyn Technical High School alumni Queens College, City University of New York alumni Hunter College alumni United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War United States Air Force airmen {{USAF-bio-stub