Roll of Honor
Barry Philip Holmes
Incident
Airman First Class Barry Holmes, Senior Airman Donald Heitkamp, Staff Sergeant Charles Huskey, and their two pilots were killed when their UH-1 helicopter crashed shortly after 3:00 pm, near Bear Butte State Park, South Dakota.
They were providing security for a missile maintenance movement for a convoy from Ellsworth AFB to Opal when the accident occurred. An additional Security Policeman who was participating in the security of the convoy was the only sole survivor of the crash.
Airman Holmes served with the United States Air Force Security Forces for more than two years and was assigned to the 45th Missle Security Squadron.
Barry and I was on camper teams together and then we moved to airborn. We triped out to the feild many times together. We spent many hours together, we laughed, we talked and we spent many good times together. Barry had a good soul and was a good friend to all that new him.
Sgt. Timothy L. Weeks 45th MSS October 14th, 2025
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-98852E94- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Airman First Class Holmes gave the United States Air Force Security Forces 2 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Barry Philip Holmes served in the Other (1984â1986) before joining law enforcement.
Airman First Class Barry Philip Holmes is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At United States Air Force Security Forces, 28 of 41 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 68.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Barry Philip Holmes's cause is highlighted.
How Barry Philip Holmes Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Barry Philip Holmes is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
40 officers from United States Air Force Security Forces are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
