Honoring Major John Robert Helms On Memorial Day

       Today is Memorial Day here in the United States. It is a special day to honor the hundreds of thousands of men and women who made incredible sacrifices, including their lives, fighting for this country in times of war. Today I want to focus on one of those brave people. I had a great uncle named John Robert Helms. He had red hair. He was always funny and full of good cheer.  He was a great family man. Those of us who knew him well held him in awe and respect. He was one heck of a great military pilot and a hero both in World War II and in Korea.

       When World War II broke out, he passed all the tests and was accepted for flight training in the US Army Air Corps. He did an incredible job in flight training. He earned his pilot’s wings. He was assigned to fly a P-38 Lightning fighter plane. This plane had twin engines and a forktail. It could get close to 500 miles per hour in level flight. If a pilot put the plane into a power dive, it could come close to breaking the sound barrier.

    Urban legend has it that Uncle John Robert loved to do wild things in the plane that were against regulations. My mother always told me the funny story about him flying his P-38 under a low-hanging bridge at high speed. Such antics did not sit well with his superior officers. He was removed from flying fighters and sent to be a B-17 pilot. This was a lumbering 4-engine bomber with a top speed of around 235 miles per hour.

    He found himself assigned to the 8^th Air Force flying out of England doing bombing runs over Germany. Each bomber crew was required to fly 25 bombing missions over Germany before they were relieved. Less than 25% of the crews made it through mission #25. Most were shot down between mission #8 and mission#12 with many dying. If you want to get an idea of what Uncle John Robert went through, here is an interview with a former B-17 pilot, now over 100 years old, who survived his 25 missions bombing Germany:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CAxfsBxK5U

    Uncle John Robert survived his 25 missions. Was it sheer good luck? That played a part in his survival. He must have been an incredible pilot with a very cool head under fire and great leadership capabilities.

    When World War II ended, Uncle John Robert stayed in the Mississippi Army National Guard. For some unknown reason, he stopped being a pilot (Perhaps he failed the physical exam to continue as a pilot?). He became the commander of a tank battalion. When the North Koreans invaded South Korea, he was called back to active duty and sent to fight in Korea, He was involved in tank battles against both North Korean and Communist Chinese units.

     Memorial Day honors very special men like my Uncle John Robert!