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Owens (James C., Jr.) papers
5032
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Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: James C. Owens, Jr. papers
Creator:
Owens, James C., Jr.
Creator:
United States. Navy
Identifier/Call Number: 5032
Physical Description:
2.98 Linear Feet
3 boxes
Date (inclusive):
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.
Language of Material:
English.
Container: 1
Container: 2
Container: 3
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).
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.
Advance notice required for access.
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.
[Box/folder# or item name], James C. Owens, Jr. papers, Collection no. 5032, University Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California
The collection is unprocessed.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Certificates
Diplomas
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Archival resources
Photographs
Universities and colleges -- Students -- Archival resources
World War, 1939-1945 -- Archival resources
Owens, James C., Jr. -- Archives
Los Angeles High School (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Students
United States. Navy -- Officers
University of Southern California -- Students