Jim G. Helms, 86, of Le Mars, died Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at the Good Samaritan Society in Le Mars. James Gerhardt Helms was born on the family farm on Jan. 25, 1936, to George and Margaret.
‘Backbone of steel’: Slain Green Beret receives Silver Star four years after attack in Jordan January 27 Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, pictured wearing a closed-circuit underwater breathing apparatus during his combat diver training, posthumously received the Silver Star Wednesday for his courage in Jordan. (Courtesy of Moriarty family)
Army Staff Sgt. James Moriarty shouted in Arabic for the gate guard at the entrance to Jordan’s King Faisal Air Base to stop firing at him and a fellow Green Beret. But the gunman, armed with an M-16 rifle, ignored the pleas and charged the two Americans anyway. Moriarty, crouched near a barricade, leaned forward and was shot twice as he fired his own pistol directly at the Jordanian, who, unlike the Americans, was wearing body armor.