Joined Sqd 4/1/42. ETO/Flight Echelon 10/2/42. WIA 12/6/42 (Abbeyville). DS/Benghazi 6/26/43. Returned to base 8/26/43. Completed tour 8/25/43.



Awarded DSC as pilot of B-24 'Wing and a Prayer' with a volunteer crew on a mission which was deemed a suicide mission.



Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 41-24211.



Holmes had completed all required 25 missions and had been named operations officer. The dangerous mission was a 2100 mile round trip to a heavily-fortified oil refinery in Romania. Holmes led one of the formations and cruised at tree top level near the target. After dropping the bombs, they headed to Libya. Short of fuel, they successfully landed with less than 10 minutes of fuel.



Distinguished Service Cross awarded February 2, 2009. More than likely, his Silver Star was revoked so it could be upgraded to the DSC.



Awards: Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star (more than likely revoked for DSC upgrade), Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart and Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross (British), American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with at least one bronze service star and the World War II Victory Medal.