First Battalion, 24th Marines

AMOS ARTHUR OWEN
US NAVY CORPSMAN
1942 – 1945

Amos Owen was working as an electrician in his hometown of Conesville, Iowa when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Three months later, the 32-year-old Owen was in the Navy – not, surprisingly, plying his trade but in hospital school. He would serve as a corpsman for the next three years, first with CUB-12 in San Bruno, California, and then overseas with the V Amphibious Corps. Casualties from Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima were all under his care.

“Doc” Owen would join First Battalion, 24th Marines in the closing days of the war at Camp Maui, and receive his honorable discharge in December of 1945.

The photos shown here were found in an abandoned home in Newton, New Hampshire, that once belonged to Amos and his wife Hazel. We are actively seeking Owen’s family members – if you are a relative or know the family, please contact the webmaster.

All pictures are provided courtesy of Bill Powers.

“First hospital, Saipan.” This captured building was part of the VAC hospital complex on Saipan.

Ruins of the sugar mill in Charan Kanoa, Saipan.

A field hospital – “Easy” Medical Company, VAC – probably on Saipan.

Pharmacist’s Mates Jim Wood and Floyd Warren experiment with the local transportation on Saipan.

Examining a piece of shrapnel from a 16-inch battleship shell. Floyd Warren, Ladislaw “Ladd” Vacek, and “Smith.” Probably Saipan, 1944-1945.

Owen and Floyd Warren. The tents in the background resemble those at Camp Maui; this photo may have been taken near the end of the war.

PhM1c Owen, likely taken in 1945. The ID tag was found along with the photographs.