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The 36th Division Archive
Private James F. Ownbey
Phone/Radio Operator, Rifleman
E Company, 2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment
James Francis Ownbey was born in December 1924 to a farming family in the small town of Kirksville, Missouri. The second oldest of five siblings, and the only son, he grew up following in his father’s footsteps, who worked as a hired hand on a local farm, as the second man of the house. The Ownbey family had a long history in Kirksville, going back many generations with name recognition across the county. James, like many other Ownbeys, attended Kirksville High School for a few years and for unknown reasons earned the nickname of “Bunker.” While he was a junior at Kirksville High he watched his country descend into war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Not long after, he decided to drop out of school and begin a career, finding employment at the nearby International Shoe Company manufacturing plant, a major employer in the area. He worked at International Shoe for less than a year when, four months after his eighteenth birthday, he was drafted into service with the United States Army.
Reporting for Duty in April 1943, he went through basic training and was sent to the newly formed 66th Infantry Division which had recently moved to Camp Robinson, Arkansas to continue its training. A member of the Headquarters Company of the 264th Infantry Regiment, in early 1944 he followed the division to Camp Rucker, Alabama where he remained until he received orders to ship out to France on his own. Reporting to Fort George Meade in June 1944, he was sent overseas to Italy, arriving in mid July. He was placed in the 2nd Replacement Depot and spent several months biding his time before he was sent to southern France a month and a half later. Once there, a long truck ride northward took him to his combat unit, the 36th Infantry Division. After a brief time awaiting placement, he reported to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment on September 24, 1944 as a short-range phone/radio operator and rifleman.
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His arrival into the 143rd was a necessity. After many months of harsh fighting in Italy and a busy two-month drive from the French shore, the 143rd was locked down into what would become the Vosges campaign. Taking place in the forested mountains of central France, the Vosges was characterized by bitter weather, harsh terrain, and a slow, grueling slog between the German and American forces trying to reach the Alsatian Plain. James joined E Company towards the beginning of the Vosges for a week-long assault against high ground north of Docelles and into the city of Deycimont. Key early towns in the campaign, his introduction to combat was not a pleasant one as the Germans proved motivated to hold their ground while cold and rainy weather dominated the hilly and thickly-wooded landscape.
At the start of October his battalion was in reserve while the 143rd launched a major offensive towards a series of high land masses along the Rehaupal-Laveline-du-Houx Road. On October 4 the 2nd Battalion was called in to advance against Hill 808, a large mass controlling the area containing two enemy self-propelled guns pounding the other 143rd troops. James and the 2nd Battalion advanced slowly onto the hill before finding an enemy defensive position 400 yards northwest of Rehaupal containing infantry, a dug-in anti-tank gun, and a Panzer IV. While 2nd Battalion called in artillery and dealt with the threat, 3rd Battalion made it up to Hill 808 and endured a tough fight, throwing off its 150 defenders.
Following their success along the ridgeline, the battalion joined the rest of the regiment in forming a defensive line, taking up an area west of Rehaupal to the north of Hill 808. This allowed the men to construct heavy defenses, create fields of fire, and take a rest from the quick advance. The following week was spent in these and other defensive positions mostly sending out patrols to find prisoners and information on the enemy, who mainly consisted of the 326th Volksgrenadier Regiment. On October 13, James’ battalion was relieved by the 142nd Infantry Regiment and moved to Faucompierre where they prepped for the assault on Bruyeres, a major industrial and transportation hub in this part of the Vosges. For this battle the 143rd was paired with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the famous segregated Japanese-American infantry unit sent to join the 36th Division for its Vosges campaign.
Although the attack began with James’ battalion in reserve, they joined the fight on October 20 after the 143rd and 442nd had just captured the city of Bruyeres itself. Their job was to keep up the pressure by advancing onward to nearby Hill 501 with tanks in support. The battalion spent two days pushing the line beyond Bruyeres into the slope of a forested hill known as Bois de Poulieres. It was here that they received word of the 100th Battalion of the 442nd taking Biffontaine, one of their major targets. While F Company traveled to Biffontaine on October 24 to relieve the 100th, James’ company was given a few days off and ordered to hold their defensive line. On October 29, in the midst of the infamous “lost battalion” rescue being performed by the 442nd just to the north, E Company joined with F to distract German forces with an assault against entrenched German forces just north of Biffontaine. It was a bitter fight against a unit of Luftwaffe ground troops, fresh replacements made from “young, ardent Nazis” who had been sent to hold the forest after a mere six months of training. Their numerous machine gun positions were hidden across the hill using rock formations as de facto bunkers with tangles of brush and barbed wire holding up the T-Patchers. Nevertheless, James and E Company were the first to crest the hill and lead an ongoing attack clearing the immediate area for the next two days.
On November 1, while F Company was in reserve, E and G Company resumed the attack. E Company advanced directly to the east only to find a number of enemy positions abandoned just the night before. Ordered to hold their advance, they remained in place until the 3rd when the entire 2nd Battalion was ordered south to relieve the 3rd Battalion of the 142nd Infantry along a line stretching from Herpelmont-Jussarupt-Champdray-Rehaupal. Patrols were sent out for over a week in this area, learning from prisoners that the enemy was extremely demoralized and lacking in supplies. Once the rest of the division made advances to the north, the time came for the 143rd to launch their own attack, with 2nd Battalion crossing the valley near Jussarupt amidst a snowstorm towards la Houssiere. One of the major objectives of this push was la Cours Mountain, a massive peak between la Chapelle and la Houssiere, which had previously been occupied by German troops. 2nd Battalion attacked the hill during this drive on November 13 only to find a measly eight Germans sitting on top of it as an observation force. Setting up defenses and sending patrols to Ivoux, it became clear the Germans had abandoned much of the area and retreated to the east.
This general withdrawal meant the 143rd needed to continue pushing eastward in order to keep up with the fleeing German forces. November 18 began this renewed assault as James’ battalion continued finding no enemy as far as la Cote. Rather than continue wasting time on foot, the 1st and 3rd Battalions were trucked to Langemosse while 2nd Battalion was once again put in reserve. Intelligence learned that the Germans had set up heavier defenses just east of the Meurthe River, past St. Leonard. 2nd Battalion joined the rest of the regiment in the attack on this line on November 22, making successful advances and stemming strong German counterattacks. E Company launched their attack the next morning towards Hill 704, making a major dent in the enemy by destroying two vehicles and routing a sizeable German force as they made their way. Thick terrain and isolated pockets of Germans were the majority of their resistance in the day following, passing their objective and reaching the village of St. Jean by noon. For the next two days the regiment focused on clearing out Germans from the nearby forest to protect the now open la-Croix-aux-Mines valley from observation and counterattack.
Word came in the morning of November 26 that the 2nd Battalion would be relieved by the 141st Infantry and that they were to truck twelve miles to the mining town of St. Marie-aux-Mines, where the 3rd Battalion of the 142nd had opened up a major valley leading directly into Alsace. They arrived around 1700 and awaited further orders. The next afternoon General John Dahlquist, commander of the 36th Division, ordered James’ battalion to join the 142nd Infantry Regiment for a joint attack eastward along the valley road, hoping to eventually reach the Alsatian Plain and the major city of Selestat. Launching off from Liepvre in the evening of the 28th with three M4 Shermans in support, the battalion suffered over a platoon worth of casualties after encountering three roadblocks, the last of which consisted of felled trees, anti-tank guns, machine guns, and plenty of Germans all within a thousand yards of their starting point.
The next day was full of back and forth deadlocked fighting through the valley and it was not until noon of November 29 that they finally reached Bois l’Abbesse, where they managed to destroy an enemy self-propelled gun and chase another off, securing the village by 1400. Advancing another thousand yards to the east for the night. Early the next morning they continued driving up the valley road, in “continuous contact” with the enemy and under Nebelwerfer fire coming from the direction of Scherwiller. Most of the day’s fighting was spent around the road junction of Val de Ville, where a 20mm flak wagon was set up defending the road. After taking it around 2145, they went up onto Hill 420, just to the south, and awaited the orders to enter Alsace.
While James and his battalion were slogging through the valley, the 3rd Battalion of the 142nd had made major progress: moving undetected through the forests to the south, capturing the castle of Chateau Koenigsbourg, which loomed high over the plain, and moving towards the towns bordering the forests, notably Chatenois and Kintzheim. Early in the morning on December 1 they received word to move out towards Chatenois, the final town standing between them and Alsace. Launching at 0630 with support from M10 tank destroyers of the 636th Tank Destroyer Battalion, they cleared a nearby railway bridge of mines before proceeding onto the edge of Chatenois in the late morning. Surprisingly, the town was abandoned. The men suspected the Germans had moved back towards Selestat and began sending patrols to the east to test their theory. Around 1355 a heavy artillery bombardment hit the town, but little casualties were taken by either the 142nd or 143rd men there. In any case, it was clear the Germans planned to put up a fight before the Americans could advance too far.
The route taken by James' battalion going into Selestat, he was hit by artillery during the barrage at the end of their advance.
The field where James was hit by artillery
The route taken by James' battalion going into Selestat, he was hit by artillery during the barrage at the end of their advance.
Around 1430, while two battalions of the 103rd Division were moving towards the northern part of Selestat across the nearby river, James’ battalion decided to make their move. Connecting Chatenois and Selestat was a major roadway leading directly into Selestat’s industrial sector and a large railyard separating the outskirts from the inner city. 2nd Battalion decided to cross the fields just south of this roadway and work its way towards the railyard. By the evening they managed to close in on the outskirts but encountered the Germans they missed in Chatenois. An incredible firefight broke out between them and the German defenders, with masses of German artillery and machine guns tearing into their formations.
During one of the bombardments, a shell landed near James, resulting in a horrible injury. The shell peppered his body with fragmentation, tearing into his neck, hyoid, forehead, face, and torso. It was a brutal wound. Medics acted quickly to stabilize and evacuate him back to Chatenois, alongside thirteen other casualties taken by the battalion in the initial assault, before sending him to the rear for more intensive treatment. Early on December 2 he was transported all the way back to St. Marie-Aux-Mines where he was transferred to Unit I of the 11th Field Hospital, which had only just arrived in the city days before. The medics worked hard to stabilize James as the injuries to his neck, head, and gut had already caused much bleeding. His gut wound, penetrating his colon, was already infected, leading them to perform a colostomy to try and temper the inflammation. James laid in the hospital under intense treatment for two days, including on his twentieth birthday, December 3. Tragically, however, by the next morning his body gave way to the intense trauma, passing away on the morning of December 4. The killing blow, according to his medical records, was the severe penetration wound to his neck.
The 11th Field Hospital shock ward
The 11th Field Hospital operating room
James on the 143rd casualty list for December
The 11th Field Hospital shock ward
Later that day his body was handed over to the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company where they processed and prepared his body for burial. On December 9, after James’ battalion had helped capture Selestat, one of his platoon mates, Private John R. Cochlin, came back to the 46th Graves Registration to affirmatively identify his body. He did so, attesting that they had been friends for two months in the same platoon and that it was indeed James laying before him. With the confirmation given, James was buried at 0937 on December 12, 1944 at the American cemetery in Hochfelden, a temporary graveyard that had been built only weeks before James passed away. Roughly fifteen miles northwest of Strasbourg, James remained here with over a thousand souls with a solemn and simple wooden cross bearing his name.
On December 4, 1948, exactly four years after James was killed at Selestat, his body arrived back in Missouri pursuant to the congressional funding given to repatriate American dead from World War II. He was brought back to Kirksville and buried in his ancestral family cemetery, which is still known as the “Ownbey” cemetery today. It is here he continues to rest, a testament to the bravery and sacrifice of the incredible men of the 36th Infantry Division.
James' final resting place in Missouri
Cochlin confirming James' death
Another article on James' death
James' final resting place in Missouri