Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...
Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...
Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...
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RIGHT: Helems’<br />
name <strong>in</strong>scribed at<br />
the Entrance<br />
Memorial Hall to<br />
Korean War<br />
Museum <strong>in</strong> Seoul,<br />
Korea<br />
FAR RIGHT: Fred<br />
Helems’ grave<br />
marker at Woods<br />
Cemetery,<br />
Uniontown, OH<br />
the 38th Parallel, North Korea,” <strong>in</strong> which he told them about his first<br />
<strong>in</strong>jury:<br />
Well, you will be gett<strong>in</strong>g a telegram tell<strong>in</strong>g you that I was wounded but<br />
just don’t worry. It isn’t bad. I just got a hunk of shrapnel <strong>in</strong> my leg and<br />
it is com<strong>in</strong>g along f<strong>in</strong>e.<br />
He expla<strong>in</strong>ed what happened.<br />
We were tak<strong>in</strong>g some m<strong>in</strong>es out of the road and we had some<br />
tanks for protection.<br />
The Ch<strong>in</strong>ese must have spotted them because they threw an<br />
artillery barrage at us.<br />
They would throw four rounds at a time. We were out <strong>in</strong> front of the<br />
l<strong>in</strong>es so all we could do was hit the ditch. But one hit too close and it got<br />
myself and another kid. He got hit three places and I just got hit one, so<br />
the Lord was with me.<br />
The last comment was not surpris<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
In a 26 February 1951 letter home he had written:<br />
Well, I might not get to have all that Christian fellowship when we leave<br />
but I will have the greatest fellowship, which is with Christ. I’m so glad<br />
I found him when I did, but to th<strong>in</strong>k I could have had him before and I<br />
knew the way all the time…Well, when I get back I would like to do<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g big for Christ.<br />
He never got back, and he never did anyth<strong>in</strong>g big for Christ. But,<br />
people did someth<strong>in</strong>g big for him.<br />
Jim Helems, who was four years old when his brother Fred died,<br />
thought it would be a good idea to acquire the Purple Heart he figured<br />
Fred deserved. He mounted a campaign to get it. He wrote a letter to<br />
Ohio Congressman<br />
Ralph Regula <strong>in</strong><br />
which he requested<br />
the Purple Heart. He<br />
authorized William<br />
Bloss, a <strong>KWVA</strong> member,<br />
to “help facilitate<br />
<strong>in</strong> the award<strong>in</strong>g of the<br />
Purple Heart.” Their<br />
efforts paid off. Not<br />
only did they get the<br />
Purple Heart, but they<br />
arranged a memorial<br />
service for Fred<br />
Helems.<br />
On 28 May,<br />
A brick with Fred Helems’ name on it at All<br />
Veterans Memorial, Uniontown, OH<br />
Memorial Day 2007 there was a ceremony <strong>in</strong> Uniontown, OH to<br />
honor Fred Dale Helems and to present to his family the medals he<br />
had earned. (His parents both died <strong>in</strong> the early 1990s.) It was the least<br />
some of the people for whom he fought and died could do for him.<br />
No doubt Fred and Christ looked down on them as they did someth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
big for Fred.<br />
THANKS: The <strong>in</strong>formation for this article was furnished by William<br />
H. Bloss, 3865 Hugh Street, Uniontown, OH 44685-7009, (330) 699-<br />
3337, Cell: (520) 574-5517.<br />
James Helems can be reached at 9601 N. 10th Street #16, McAllen,<br />
TX 78504, (956) 369-2307.<br />
Presentation of Helems’ medals on 28 May 2007 (L-R) William Bloss<br />
(Korea 1951), Robert Harris (Mar<strong>in</strong>es), James Helems, Han Lee (ROK)<br />
The peaceful surround<strong>in</strong>gs at the All Veterans Memorial at Uniontown, Ohio<br />
59<br />
The Graybeards<br />
May – June 2009