Second Lieutenant Helms was the pilot of a F-84G Thunderjet fighter with the 69th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 58th Fighter Bomber Group. On 13 December 1952, while on a training mission at a gunnery range, as he made a dive bombing run, his aircraft crashed into the ground.

Helms was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.