By Tom Fuller
Alamogordo Daily News
On the afternoon of Aug. 19, 1978, Pfc. Marvin “Bobby” Owen, a 21-year-old military policeman at White Sands Missile Range, was on his way to assist a family stranded on a flooded road.
Thirty years later to the day, military members and civilians of Team WSMR gathered to commemorate an act of sacrifice and heroism by a young soldier who lost his life trying to help others.
White Sands Missile Range’s Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Reginald Daniel reminded all in attendance of Owen’s heroic and selfless acts in the performance of his duty three decades ago.
A massive thunderstorm had formed over the Organ Mountains, larger than the normal seasonal storm cells local meteorologists were used to seeing. Its billowing tower of clouds reached up to 52,000 feet. By late afternoon, torrents of rain were falling on the east slopes of the craggy rock formations, sending a runoff coursing through gullies and washes that gained volume and force as small streams were channeled into bigger arroyos. A rain gauge at the Cox Ranch house indicated more than 10 inches of rain had fallen that day, the normal annual rainfall for the area. The resulting flood pounded White Sands Missile Range, causing the deaths of five people and millions in damage.
Owen had been performing security checks on the range when the storm broke. Driving through the heavy rainfall, he encountered a situation that would test his courage, training and resolve. A bridge that spanned an arroyo about a mile north of the main gate had flooded and a sedan was stalled in the middle of the muddy river, with the current threatening to push it over the edge. Without regard for his own safety, Owen drove his pickup truck into the water and wedged it against the car to keep it from being washed away.
Reporting by radio, Owen, who was known by his call sign, Unit 133, warned other military police vehicles to stay away as the rushing water continued to rise and the current grew stronger. His own vehicle stalled, and he remained in the driver seat with his foot on the brake pedal in hope that the water would recede before both vehicles were carried away.
An eyewitness reported waves of water 10 to 12 feet high were surging down the arroyo before the lights of Owen’s truck disappeared. The next day his body and battered truck would be found three miles east of the bridge.
The occupants of the sedan whom Owen had tried to save also perished in the flash flood. Capt. James Maret Jr., his wife, Gale, and their two children were returning home from a picnic when their car stalled on the bridge.
One military police officer who responded to the scene reported Owen could have saved himself by leaving his stalled vehicle and wading to safety, but he did not. The Soldiers Medal was awarded to Owen posthumously for heroism, citing that his selfless and intrepid action in the face of near certain and ultimate death was far above and beyond the normal call of duty.
In August 1979, WSMR honored Owen’s memory by renaming the Las Cruces access road Owen Road.
Reflecting on the events of that fateful day in 1978, Daniel told about 100 people gathered in front of the White Sands Museum that Owen was a dedicated, energetic young man who was always ready for and equal to any task assigned him.
“He was a soldier dedicated to his country and to his profession. Based on his selfless service, he lived up to the motto of the military police: assist, protect, defend,” Daniel said.
During the short ceremony, Daniel and White Sands Missile Range Command Sgt. Maj. Ronnie Curry unveiled a likeness of a commemorative brick donated by the White Sands Historical Society.
In his closing remarks, Curry said nobody would truly know what Owen was thinking when he put himself at risk to protect others.
“I don’t know if he had time to think,” Curry said. “But he saw the situation and took action ... Long before the words to the Soldier’s Creed and the Warrior Ethos, Pfc. Marvin Owen demonstrated that he already had those inside him and demonstrated them on Aug. 19, 1978.”
Then, in Owen’s honor, Curry recited a portion of the Soldiers Creed: “I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit and I will never leave a fallen comrade.”
Copyright 2008 Alamogordo Daily News, a MediaNews Group Newspaper