Command Pilot Pete Hughes' and Copilot Ronald Lee Helder's B-24D, 42-40753, that Lt. Helder called, Ole Kickapoo. SN, 42-40753, crashed & burned at the Prahova dry riverbed valley at Campina, Romania, after flying through a wall of flames approaching their target refinery at Campina, Romania. The two pilots, Lt. Hughes, Lt. Helder, and all but two of their crew, were killed in action ( KIA) in this crash on Operation Tidal Wave. For his actions on the Ploesti mission, Lloyd Hughes was awarded the nation's highest honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously. For his actions on the mission, Lt. Ronald Helder was awarded the nation's second highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, also posthumously, for his own valor, sacrifice and absolute determination to attack and bomb his target refinery at Campina, Romania, without any consideration for his own life and safety. August 1, 1942.