Lt. Howard Owens - Denton, TX
N 33° 14.476 W 097° 04.848
14S E 678807 N 3679675
A cenotaph to Lt. Howard Owens stands next to the final resting places of his parents, Elmer and Elma Owens, in historic Cooper Creek Cemetery, Denton, TX. It notes that he was killed in action in Italy in 1943 during World War II.
Waymark Code: WM12CMN
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/28/2020
Views: 3
His full name was Laurence Howard Owens but he went by "Howard". His cenotaph is a rectangular-shaped slab of gray granite, and it reads:
In Memory of
Lt. Howard Owens
Born Dec. 4, 1921
Killed in Action in Italy
Sept. 8, 1943
Information on him is a bit elusive, but Doug Cook has a website (see below) devoted to the United States military, and he has some good reading about what happened to Lt. Owens and his comrades. He was the navigator aboard B-17 42-5147, a.k.a. "Old Ironsides", and on September 8, 1943, they were flying a mission against an Axis headquarters at Frascati. Reports aren't clear as to exactly why the plane went down: The United States indicated that it encountered anti-aircraft artillery and fighters, losing a wing and breaking apart before crashing, while one Italian pilot claimed to have shot it down. Perhaps he simply finished the job, but six crew members died and the other four were taken prisoner. Four of the dead were returned to the United States in 1949, and they are buried together in Section 82, Site 241 at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO.
Type of Death Listed: War related (Killed in Action)
Cause of death inscription on headstone: Killed in Action in Italy
Website (if available): [Web Link]
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