US Army Corporal James Owens was born in Georgiana, Alabama on 9-24-1895, the possible son of Prudence "Prudy" Owen (1865-1934). His early life appears to be centered around his widowed mother and their life at 2608 North Tarragona Street. From an early age, he helped his mother with the expenses with labor type jobs with his last being with the Union Naval Stores Company while living at 1205 North "D" Street. He also had a sister listed as Mrs. Mary Thomas.
Then came America's entry into WWI and the mobilization of thousands of young men for the armed forces. Draft boards were set up and numbers picked out of a rolling barrel. Those numbers represented names of inductees for the military. One of those numbers had the name James Owens from Pensacola on it. His notice went out ordering him to report to the mobilization camp on April 2, 1918. After basic training he was assigned to Company "A" of the 519th Engineer Service Battalion (Forestry), which later was redesignated as the 13th Engineers Service Company (Forestry) of the 20th Engineer Regiment. The 20th Regiment operated throughout France’s forestlands, logging timber and working the sawmills. The timber they produced was sent to the US military throughout Europe. This timber was used to build roads, railroads, barracks, telephone poles, trenches, etc. These service units were predominantly composed of colored troops, with leadership provided by white officers and sergeants. For the most part, these men were worked up to 16 hours per day, subjected to physical violence, and provided with inadequate food. Their quarters were at times old barns and stables versus what the regular troops were receiving.
James eventually worked his way up to a promotion to corporal under these very harsh conditions and paid the ultimate price for it. Each of the conditions experienced by the service battalions were also listed as contributors to the drastic rise of pulmonary tuberculosis. During WWI, the dreaded disease jumped to an astounding 974 per 100,000 mortality rate. Soon, James experienced a constant cough that turned into chest pain just from breathing and a high fever. As time went on, his condition worsened and ultimately led to his death on March 10, 1919. From that point on, little is known as to his fate or whereabouts.
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