James C. Owens, Jr. papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 5032

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The James C. Owens papers consists of high school and college photographs of Owens, several photographs of him in military uniform as well as of the destroyer named for him, citations from the Secretary of the Navy for the squadron's heroism, a Purple Heart certificate, and diplomas from Los Angeles High School and USC. Many of the naval documents and certificates are very tightly rolled as they were stored in a narrow tube.

Dates

Creation: 1928 - 1943

Creator

Owens, James C., Jr. (Person)
United States. Navy (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Biographical note

James C. Owens, Jr. was born in Batavia, New York but moved to California as a child. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1929 and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California in 1934. He then went into the Navy and completed flight training in Pensacola, Florida and then served on board Lexington (CV-2); in 1941 he joined Torpedo Squadron 8 on board Hornet (CV-8). Appointed Lieutenant in 1942, Owens was the squadron Executive Officer leading the second division of TBD Devastator torpedo bombers in an attack against Japanese carriers during the Battle of Midway. Every plane of the squadron was shot down, but because the Squadron's maneuver forced Japanese ships to change course and eliminated their air cover, Lieutenant Owens is credited with the American victory that followed. Owens received the Purple Heart, Navy Cross, and Presidential Unit Citation posthumously. In 1944 a Navy destroyer was named in his honor (the USS James C. Owens).

Extent

2.98 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This small collection of memorabilia is comprised of high school and college photographs of Owen, several photographs of him in military uniform as well as of the destroyer named for him, citations from the Secretary of the Navy for the squadron's heroism, a Purple Heart certificate, and diplomas from Los Angeles High School as well as USC. Many of the naval documents and certificates are very tightly rolled as they were stored in a narrow tube.