Memorial

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S/Sgt Francis E. Owens enlisted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 12 September 1942.

The airplane was shot down in the vicinity of Tours, France.

Shortly after turning southeast from Laval towards Le Mans, the formation took dense anti-aircraft fire. One of the bursts exploded just beneath the radio compartment and destroyed the oxygen system serving the rear spaces of the aircraft. To prevent the crew from suffocating, the pilot took the plane down to 10,000 feet and turned north for home. He never did have a chance to drop his bombs. Shortly after reaching lower altitudes, the bomber was attacked by several enemy fighters. Shortly thereafter the plane was struck by cannon fire multiple times and was soon unable to maintain altitude.

S/Sgt Owens bailed out, and together with other crew members, was taken in by the Franch resistance which hidden them for several months.

At a certain day in October 1943, he took off to cross the Pyrenees mountains, together with several other American aviators and a couple of Free French aviators. At a certain moments the group had to leave him behind with two other Americans due to their complete exhaustion. They all died from exposure due to the snow and intense cold.

He was buried at a civilian cemetery in Arinsal, Andorra, after his remains were found in the mountains in the spring of 1944.

In 1950, his remains were recovered by the U.S. Army and he was reburied at Ardennes Cemetery in 1951.

Owens was a very brave man and is credited with saving the life of a ground crewman at his base during a bomb loading accident. He also saved the life of radioman T/Sgt John K. Lane by dragging the unconscious man to the door of the stricken bomber, activating his parachute and then throwing him out of the burning plane.

On 9 March 2012, the 381st Training Group, based at Vandenberg Air Force Base, dedicated a new Student Center building in honor of S/Sgt Francis E. "Bud" Owens. Owens was an original member of the 533rd Bomb Squadron, 381st bomb Group. In attendance at the ceremony were Sgt Owens' only surviving brother, James Owens, and immediate family members.

Of the crew, three men evaded capture and survived, four men were killed and three were taken prisoner.