SIDNEY — He rode alone, but he wasn’t really alone. Friends and family in Sidney tracked his journey from San Diego, California, to Parris Island, South Carolina, via Facebook and a blog.
Riding along with Darryl Cloud, of Sidney, as he rode his bicycle across the United States was the spirit of the man who gave his life for his country during the Vietnam War — Major Lawrence N. Helber, U.S. Marine Corps.
“The brother of the MIA who I dedicated the ride to met me in South Carolina,” said Cloud.
Lawrence Helber’s brother Tom Helber, who lives in Ohio, was on hand when Cloud arrived in South Carolina. Lawrence Helber’s daughter, Mary Margartet Scott, of Chicago, was in San Diego when the trip began.
“Tom and I became fast friends,” said Cloud. “It was a very emotional moment when we met for the first time.”
A group of 20 to 25 people, including Cloud’s boss, Howard Weingert, were there to greet him.
“It was a very good couple of hours,” said Cloud.
Both brother and daughter expressed their appreciation to Cloud in keeping Lawrence Helber’s memory alive. Helber was a graduate of Logan High School in Logan, Ohio. He was listed as MIA on Jan. 24, 1966, and left behind his wife, Mary, and four children.
“I am truly humbled by Darryl’s desire to dedicate his amazing achievement to the memory of my brother, Major Larry Helber,” said Tom Helber. “Many years have passed since Larry was declared missing but there still remains the sting I feel when I see Marines (or any of our military) whether in action against enemy forces or in more peaceful settings as in formation marching smartly.
“I loved my older brother deeply and what Darryl has given me these past 72 days is the affirmation of love that still flows from other brothers and sisters who keep alive the remembrance of he fallen as they strive to serve the wounded. Words alone do not do justice to what I feel today in gratitude to Darryl and the military wives and friends of the Semper Fi Fund.”
Mary Margaret Scott reflected on her emotions when she saw Cloud begin his journey.
“I do want to share with you something that struck me when I was seeing Darryl off,” said Scott. “Corey Petersen, who is the Community Athlete coordinator for Semper Fi, was chatting and she mentioned how they were all talking about Larry in the office. That hit me so hard. I realized that perhaps one of the hardest things about this is I knew so few people who knew dad so no one talks about him.
“It felt like he was forgotten despite the motto on the flag,” said Scott. “Suddenly, my dad was being talked about, thought about and it made me so happy. This has made him more present than he’s been in a great while. Shortly thereafter, I had lunch with a woman who I didn’t know well and she shared she lost a son about a year ago to cancer. I asked if she kept in touch with his friends and she said no. I encouraged her to do so. I told her that the hardest thing is to believe that no one remembers and their life didn’t matter. I encouraged her to speak about him to those friends that it would be healing for all parties. She told me later how much that helped. So this is what Darryl did for me, he made sure people heard Dad’s name, knew about him and talked about him. That was huge for me and something I will always value.”
Helber enlisted in the Marine Corps even before he completed his senior year of high school. He was trained as a Radar Operator in an F3D Skynight and later in an F4B Phantom jet which was the aircraft he was flying in at the time of becoming MIA in Vietnam in 1966.
At the time he was declared missing in action, Helber was the Radar Intercept Officer of an F4B assigned along with one other aircraft to attack a target near Hue Phu Bai, northwest of Danang Air Base, on Jan. 24, 1966. Helber’s aircraft and the other delivered the ordnance, checked out with the Forward Air Controller, and departed the area. While enroute to Danang Air Base, the two aircraft made a routine radio check-in with the Tactical Air Control Center. There were no further radio transmissions, signals, nor visual sightings from either aircraft. Search operations were initiated same day and continued through Jan. 27, 1966. Nothing was found in the search.
Helber is survived by his daughters, Leilani and Mary Margaret, his son, Larry, and brother, Tom. His wife, Mary, and youngest son, Andrew, are deceased.
Cloud began his Boot Camp to Boot Camp Trip on Aug. 15 from the Marine Boot Camp in San Diego, California. Nearly 2,700 miles later, Cloud arrived at Parris Island in South Carolina, on Monday, Oct. 26.
