Oral History Interview with Robert Owens, May 31, 2012 Page: 1
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Oral History Interview with Robert Owens, May 31, 2012 (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Owens. Owens joined the Navy in 1943, aspiring to be a fighter pilot. He enrolled in the V-12 program but by 1944 there was declining interest in pilots with as little experience as he would have had, so he volunteered for gunnery school. He joined a PBY4-2 Privateer crew in Florida as a turret gunner and deployed to the Philippines. Flying over the South China Sea and along the coastline of Indochina, his crew was often accompanied in the air by nonconfrontational Japanese fighters. On one mission over a targeted ship, however, Owens's crew flew too closely to the lead plane and struck a column of water splashing up from their bomb. This caused engine trouble and made them an easy target for nine aggressive enemy fighters. The crew escaped after shooting down three Oscars and diverted to Palawan for an emergency landing. In their haste to lighten the load on the damaged plane, they tossed out their life rafts before crossing the sea. Fortunately, they arrived without incident. After 23 combat missions in both the PBY4-1 and 4-2, Owens returned home and became an engineer for Lockheed.
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Oral History Interview with Robert Owens, May 31, 2012, text, May 31, 2012; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606206/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.