Memorial

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Maj Owen M. Seaman graduated from Oakland High School in 1934 and attended the University of California, Berkeley, with the class of 1940.

He was a member of the class of 40-A, the first pilot graduates of the Army Air Corps Expansion Program of 1939. He had entered in July 1939 at Allan Hancock College of Aeronautics before advancing to Randolph Field and finally Kelly Airfield. He was stationed in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Statement from 1st Lt John D. Mattie, who flew in the same mission: "I was flying Major Seaman's wing returning from the Bremen, Germany raid on December 20, 1943. We were approximately 10 miles northwest of Texel when I had the first indication that the Major was in trouble. I throttled back completely to stay with him as he informed me by R/T that he was having engine trouble. At the time, we were at 9,000 feet, on a heading of 270. He maintained this course but kept losing altitude slowly until, after approximately 20 minutes of flying, we were down to an altitude of 1,000 Feet. I saw his canopy come off at this time, and as I pulled up on his wing, he began a slight climb and maintained it for a few seconds after which he assumed a shallow glide, hitting the water in this position. The plane made a large splash on hitting, bounced once, went up on its nose with the tail in a vertical position, and settled into the water rapidly.
Lt Beerbower and Lt Kong, who had been following us closely, began circling the spot the plane had gone down in while I climbed for altitude and began calling for a fix on B channel. I called intermittently from 3,000 feet to 8,000 feet, and after receiving assurance that a launch was on its way, dropped down to a low altitude and began circling and searching the area. Lt Kong and I circled for 20 minutes. As our gas was getting low and we did not see anything, we set course for home at 1402 and made landfall North of Yarmouth at 1425.
I saw no parachute leave the plane before it hit the water, nor did I see a dinghy or any signs of life after the plane went in."