HELENA – Every year on this day, kids at Jim Darcy Elementary School in the Helena Valley learn more about the namesake of their school, thanks to his family.
Jim Darcy’s brother, Bill, and his sister Margaret, visit the school every year on this day – Jim’s birthday – and they have for several decades.
Today, Margaret was unable to attend, but other family members came with Bill to deliver all of the birthday cakes and talk to the students about Jim.
Jim Darcy was 22 years old when his helicopter crashed while serving in Vietnam.
Bill Darcy says the littlest kids often ask questions like, what was Jim’s favorite food or color. But those questions change as the kids grow.
“You’re talking to kindergarteners to fifth graders,” says Bill, “so by the fifth grade they’ve all heard the story several times and they ask pretty proficient questions. And they’ve read the biography, so they know quite a bit, especially by the time they’re in the fifth grade.”
This year is even more special for the family, as they brought cakes for the construction workers that are in the process of building the new Jim Darcy Elementary.
Reporting by Melissa Jensen for MTN News
