Lieutenant Lawrence Helm, Jr. - Soldiers Memorial - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 37.743 W 090° 11.995
15S E 743747 N 4279333
Redesignated 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy). Activated in the US on 1 Dec 1948. Assigned to Strategic Air Command. Equipped with B-36 aircraft. Inactivated on 16 Jun 1952.
Waymark Code: WM1867G
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/07/2023
Views: 0
County of memorial: St. Louis Independent City
Location of memorial: Chestnut St., Soldiers Memorial Museum, E section, St. Louis
Erected by: Missouri State Historical Society
Marker Text:
Lieutenant Lawrence Helm, Jr.
27TH BOMBARDMENT SQUARDRON
Lawrence Helm Jr. grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights and joined the Army Air Forces during World War II. He attended bombardier school and learned to drop aerial bombs with precision.
Assigned to the 11th Bombardment Group, Helm flew 40 harrowing bombing missions. He and his squadron attacked Japanese shipping, airfields, and bases during the Allied offensive in the Central Pacific.
[Photo Caption]: IMAGE,, LEFT: Crew of the B-24 Bomber Royal Flush, ca. 1943.
Helm is the second bombardier from the left in the first row.
Display Items Text:
OBJECT, LEFT: US Army Air Forces summer flight jacket of Lt. Lawrence Helm Jr., ca. 1943. He wore this jacket while flying bombing missions over the Pacific.
OBJECT, UPPER LEFT: Military medals of Lt. Lawrence Helm Jr., ca. 1945. Counterclockwise from top left: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and State of Missouri World War II Service Medal. Helm earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for crawling along the catwalk of his plane to release a jammed bomb during a bombing run.
OBJECT, ABOVE: Cotter pins collected by Lt. Lawrence Helm Jr., 1944. Cotter pins kept bombs from exploding before they were dropped. Helm collected and labeled these pins from bombing runs he made in 1944.
OBJECT, BELOW: Norden bombsight, ca. 1943. Most B-24 Liberator aircraft were equipped with a Norden bombsight. This devise improved the accuracy of bombs dropped from high altitude and was one of America's most closely guarded military secrets.