Purple Heart Search Ending Soon On Armed Forces Day
MASSENA - A search started by The Salvation Army of Massena in January will come to an end on Armed Forces Day.
The local Salvation Army has been searching for relatives of U.S. Sgt. Richard Owen, who died on D-Day, after they received a donation that included his Purple Heart certificate and a picture of the soldier.
The search brought out an army of volunteers who did their own research as well as media outlets who wanted to spread the word.
"I don't know the exact count of the number of people looking. Mainly people were communicating on-line," Salvation Army Capt. Ronald J. Heimbrock said Monday.
And now those efforts have paid off, after they located relatives of Sgt. Owen and his wife and plan to present them with the certificate and picture.
"We're working on bringing it to a conclusion. We've located some relatives on her side, and we've located some relatives on Richard's side," Capt. Heimbrock said.
It was in February that the trail had seemingly ran into a dead end. Capt. Heimbrock had found information on the Internet that indicated Sgt. Owen was born in 1913 in Indiana and had enlisted in the Army National Guard in Winchester in 1940. He was listed as single with one dependent.
Capt. Heimbrock was also able to find out that Sgt. Owen had been a member of the "Easy" Company Paratroopers 46th PIR 101st Airborne Division, the unit that was the subject of a 2001 mini-series called "Band of Brothers."
Sgt. Owen was one of 17 paratroopers and five flight crew who died in the battle of Normandy when their C-47 Skytrain transport plane was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crashed on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
But after that, information was scarce - until news reports started appearing around the United States, starting with local and regional publications like the Daily Courier-Observer and Watertown Daily Times and expanding to other media outlets, including the Washington Post.
The back of the picture found by the local Salvation Army contained a 15 cent stamp and Sgt. Owen's military address, and it was addressed to Mrs. Richard E. Owen in Winchester, Virginia. Mrs. Richard E. Owen turned out to be his wife, the former Ruth McCann.
And Winchester was where The Salvation Army was able to make headway on their search.
"The Winchester Star in Winchester had been running a series of stories. Some of Ruth's family still lives in the Winchester area and had picked up on the story. They brought a photo album into the newsroom over there. They scanned these things and sent some of them over to me and sent information over to me," Capt. Heimbrock said.
Through that search, they were able to locate the names of Mrs. Owen's grandnieces - sisters Susanne Marshall of Charleston, S.C., Ellen of Falls Church, Va., and Sheryl Griffin of California.
"Susanne is the grandniece of our Ruth. It really looked like Susanne Marshall is the person to receive the items that we have up here. She has the Purple Heart. It would be great to make sure that the Purple Heart, Purple Heart certificate and military photograph all wind up at same place," Capt. Heimbrock said.
At that point they hadn't found any relatives from Sgt. Owen's side of the family, until the Washington Post ran an article about the search.
"At that particular point we didn't have the names or identities of any living relatives on Richard's side of the family. When the Washington Post article went out, someone spotted that and brought it to the attention of relatives on Richard's side. They immediately contacted different people and myself. Even so, I'm told by one of the Owen's relatives that there is still a brother that's living," according to Capt. Heimbrock.
He has been in contact with Susanne and they had planned to reunite the Purple Heart certificate with its medal during a ceremony in Charleston, S.C. on Armed Forces Day, May 15. But those plans may be changing.
"We're looking for a presentation of the items on May 15. I originally thought we might do it down in South Carolina where Susanne Marshall resides. However, now we're not so sure we're going to do it down there at South Carolina at this point because we have to consider the Owen's family," Capt. Heimbrock said.
"It would really be an honor, I think, for everybody to find a home for these items. They really honor those families. I'm looking forward to the day when these items can be presented. I'm sure that when that takes place, there will be a conclusion," he said.
