Helen Lucille Ricketts Hooks Rownd

World War II WASP Pilot | Teacher | Aviation Pioneer | Namesake of VFW Post 3652

Helen Lucille Ricketts Hooks Rownd was born on November 27, 1920, in Loranger, Louisiana, and later became a longtime resident of Hammond. She is remembered as a pioneering pilot, a World War II Women Airforce Service Pilot, a teacher, a businesswoman, a wife, a mother, and a proud part of the Hammond community.

Helen discovered her love of flying at a time when few women were encouraged to enter aviation. In 1940, she became the first student at Southeastern Louisiana College to earn a pilot’s license. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, she joined the Civil Air Patrol and soon became part of the wartime effort to put skilled women pilots to work for the country.

Helen was recruited into the Women’s Flying Training Detachment, which later became part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, known as the WASP. She served in WASP Class 43-W-2. Texas Woman’s University records show that Class 43-W-2 trained from November 13, 1942, to May 28, 1943, with 51 trainees and 43 graduates at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. Helen Ricketts is listed among those graduates.

After earning her wings in May 1943, Helen was assigned to Ferry Command at Love Field near Dallas, Texas. WASP pilots ferried military aircraft across the United States, helped train male pilots for combat, and performed dangerous support missions. One of Helen’s most hazardous assignments was towing aerial gunnery targets behind a B-26 Marauder while student gunners fired at the target she pulled.

Following the war, Helen returned to Louisiana. She taught mathematics at Hammond High School for 25 years, shaping generations of students while many never knew their teacher had helped serve the nation as a wartime pilot.

The WASP were not immediately recognized as military veterans after World War II. Congress finally granted them veteran status in 1977. On March 10, 2010, Helen received the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Women Airforce Service Pilots for their service.

Helen passed away in Hammond, Louisiana, on October 3, 2016, at the age of 95. On July 2, 2022, VFW Hammond Post 3652 voted to rename the post from Hammond VFW Post 3652 to Helen Hooks Rownd VFW Post 3652, honoring a local woman whose courage, service, and dedication deserve to be remembered. 

Helen Hooks Rownd VFW Post 3652 is proud to carry her name and preserve her legacy. Her story reminds us that service comes in many forms: in uniform, in the classroom, in the community, and in the courage to go where few have gone before.