()

Merle Hunter ©Stars and StripesLiege, Belgium, June, 1958: Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Curtis E. LeMay meets the welcoming party as his wife, Helen, gets some help negotiating the treacherous last step down from a KC-135 Stratotanker that was flown to Liege for an air show. With the flight, Mrs. LeMay and aviation pioneer Jacqueline Cochran (the first female pilot to break the sound barrier, in 1953) became the first women to cross the Atlantic in a KC-135. Helen LeMay was noted for her efforts to assist military families; she and the general are remembered through the LeMay Foundation, which provides financial help for Air Force officers' widows.