S2c Fredrick Halden Owen

Fredrick Halden Owen was born March 11, 1921 in Oklahoma, the son of Leonidas Owen, a salesman, and Winnie Saunders Owen, a homemaker.

By 1930 the family had moved to Collinsville, Texas, where the parents operated a hardware store.

Fred, as he was known, attended Collinsville High School. A newspaper article said he graduated, but the spring 1940 Census said he had completed two years and was not in school. He, too, was working at the store.

Mr. Owen enlisted in the Navy on April 19, 1941, and was a seaman second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Sources: the Dallas Morning News; the Whitesboro (Texas) News-Record; Census; Navy muster roll; Defense Department. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.