She was assigned to basic training in Texas and flew from Philadelphia to San Antonio. It was her first time on an airplane. "I loved it. I met Pete," she says of joining the Air Force.
Helen James grew up in a military family — her great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, her father in WWI, and her uncles in WWII. So when she enlisted in 1952, she felt like she belonged. Shortly after, she realized she was being watched.