Henry Fouts

Born Henry Sherman Fouts, on June 19, 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia the middle child of seven children born to Grover Cleveland and Lulu Mel Fouts. He was named after his grandfather, who was known as the ""land baron"" of Dawson County, Ga due to a large amount of owned property.

His brothers and sister oldest to youngest were: Matria, Myrtle, Grover (GC), Nina, William, and Donald. Oldest sister Matria of Tampa, FL age 99, and youngest brother Donald of Smyrna, GA age 82 remain.

Henry left high school in the 10th grade after his mother passed away and his father became very ill. He enlisted into the Air Force Oct. 8, 1942 after he turned 18.

He knew he was going to be drafted and didn't want to be in infantry so he enlisted. He saw a copy of Life Magazine, and the cover showed an Airman who was an aerial gunner school instructor at Nellis Army Air Field, Las Vegas, Nevada. He read the article and liked it. That article influenced him to go to aerial gunner school.

Henry went to basic training at Miami Beach, Florida where he applied for aerial gunner school. When he finished basic training he was sent Buckingham Army airfield at Fort Myers , Fl. where he entered aerial gunnery school and graduated October 17, 1942 and promoted to Sergeant.

Shortly after, he was assigned to a dive bomb unit at Hunter Army Air Field Ga. where flew in several Vultee aircraft A-31s during his dive bomb training before the phasing out the A-31s for P51's. When they phased out the A-31s they didn't need aerial gunners anymore and they assigned him to go an aircraft maintenance school at Shepard Army Air Field,Texas to be a flight engineer on B25 aircraft at Columbia Army Air Field, Columbia , SC.

Once Henry finished the training, he applied for pilot training and appeared before a board. He was selected; and sent to Michigan State College for pilot training. His next training school was in San Antonio. While there, medical doctors permanently grounded him because of an abdominal surgery he had as a child. He appealed the grounding and they gave him a waiver after the doctors learned he had already been flying in A-31 Dive Bombers and B-25 Bombers and had experienced no problems flying.

It has been said that ""Love is Blind"" and so it was that while in Atlanta, a ""blind date"" introduced Henry to the one who was to be the live of his life, Hilda Martha Hardy. Henry was home on leave from the Army Air Force and would leave shortly for another tour flying B-17s in Europe and he proposed to Hilda before his departure. Hilda responded that she would never marry him while he was still in the Army-more about that later. Off to war went Henry, with hopes of returning to Atlanta and to Hilda.

When he finished his B-17 training July 1944 and he was assigned the 346th Bomb Squadron, 99th Bomb Group. On Aug. 14, 1944 and he went on his first mission Aug. 29, 1944.

He was flying on a combat mission in Czechoslovakia Sept. 23, 1944 when his aircraft received a great deal of damage. With one failed engine, and numerous other mechanical problems, the crew had to fall out of formation.

The co-pilot passed out and Henry hooked him up to oxygen. After the co-pilot regained consciousness, he kept going and continued to help his crew. They flew back to Italy alone and began to assess the damage to the aircraft. With the amount of damage suffered, the aircraft would not be able to stop properly. Henry suggested they use a parachute to help them stop. After contacting headquarters for permission to use the parachute, the crew circled around outside the pattern so other aircraft could land. Henry went to the back of the aircraft to pop the door and secure the parachute leg straps around the elevator torque bar. As soon as the tail wheels touched down he popped open the parachute.

Unknown to the crew, everything was being filmed as it happened. In 2011 the National Archives provided Henry with a digital copy of the film and he never realized until he watched the film he remarked that the plane did a 370 degree loop on the ground after they landed. The Air Force, would later produce a YouTube video documenting this event in a series entitled Pioneers in Blue.

Henry was discharged May 24, 1945 after surpassing the maximum allowable points in the Army discharge points system flying 35 combat missions. He returned to Atlanta and Hilda after discharge and he was hired as a reservations clerk at Eastern Airlines at the Atlanta, Georgia Airport. The pay was $37.50 a week. He and Hilda dated while he worked for Eastern Airlines and on June 5, 1946 Henry and Hilda became Mr. & Mrs. Fouts.

Settling into their new life and new home in Atlanta, Henry and Hilda made plans for their future. After working at Eastern Airlines for three years, Henry read about an Air Force reserve unit at Dobbins Air Force Base and joined Feb. 2, 1949 as a flight engineer on the Douglas A-26 bombers. In December 1949, as the conflict in Korea escalated, men with flight experience and specialties were in great demand. He was recalled to active duty as a technical sergeant with the newly created branch of the military, the United States Air Force. He was assigned to the Air Fore Training Center at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia. Within six months the United States would enter the war between North and South Korea. From then on the mold was set and Henry and Hilda adjusted to the life in the military they would share for almost thirty years.

Tours of duty in almost every corner of the world, the Fouts family moved from Atlanta to Shreveport, Louisiana to England to Columbus, Ohio and then back to England where in 1955, a baby joined their travels. Following Tim's birth, complications arose and Hilda was hurriedly brought back to the U.S. Henry and 11 week old Timothy Hardy Fouts followed. When Hilda recovered, the family returned to Atlanta but the stay was short-lived as within a short time they were transferred to Orlando and then Amarillo, Texas to the aircraft mechanics school.

In 1963, Henry was sent on an isolated tour to Taiwan for a year that was of a top-secret nature. A nuclear arsenal was placed there which if authorized, would be a one-way mission for the pilots of two planes sent to deliver the nuclear strikes in China. Henry was the aircraft maintenance supervisor.

After returned from a successful tour in Taiwan the family was sent to Alexandria, Louisiana and a year later Henry was sent to Vietnam where his unit was one of the first to see action bombing in the war that would stretch over years to come and Henry's exposure to agent orange as a result of the napalm use.

Henry applied for retirement following his tour in Vietnam in 1966. The date of retirement was to be September,1967. In March 1967 he was notified he had been selected for promotion to Senior Master Sergeant effective April 1, 1967. He requested his retirement request be canceled. He later found out that because of his retirement application he was not eligible for promotion. He was granted a waiver for promotion based on his combat record. He applied for an assignment to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii and over a year later an assignment came through for July 1, 1968 at the Pacific Air Forces Headquarters.

In December 1969 he was selected for promotion to Chief Master Sergeant effective September 1, 1970. After five years in Hawaii, in 1973, Tim went off to college and Henry and Hilda were transferred to Taiwan and then to The Philippines.

After serving more than 30 years of honorable service and decorated with many awards and medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Henry retired from the Air Force on March 1, 1977 and moved back to Homestead with Hilda.

Between 1978 and 1989, Henry was employed with the Florida Department of Corrections as a probation and parole officer and supervisor where he continued to receive honors and commendations for his work ethic just as he received them while in the Air Force.

In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida. In March 1993, Henry and Hilda moved to Pace, Santa Rosa County, Florida to be close to their son and daughter-in-law, Timothy and Renee Fouts living in Pensacola.

In March 1997, his beloved wife Hilda for over 50 years, passed away unexpectedly and Henry was devastated. Two years later his sadness and loneliness turned to joy in two ways. After 21 years without children, grandson Jonathan Elias Fouts was born to Tim and Renee. Grandpa's only disappoint was that Hilda was not alive to experience the joy with him.

As Henry, now known as ""Grandpa,"" was still working part-time as a private investigator, he began to travel. An assignment brought him to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999, where he became lost in the MGM Grand Hotel and was looking for the parking lot. Asking for directions from an MGM employee named Sunhui Reynolds, he soon realized Sunhui would be his future wife and new soulmate for the remainder of his life. They were married June 23, 2000 and Henry obtained a joyous, renewed lease on life living in Las Vegas with Sunhui and active in the 99th Bomb Group Historical Society for many years following.

Over the course of his life, Henry endured and recovered from 14 separate surgeries and multiple pulmonary problems including double pneumonia,which was traced back to the Vietnam era with his exposure to agent orange. At age 90 he was declared 100[[][[]][[][%]]] disabled by the United States Veteran's Administration.
On Sunday, August 30, 2015 he began his last bout with double pneumonia to which he succumbed on Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 8:42 am.

Henry Fouts was preceded in death by his sisters Myrtle and Nina, brothers William and GC, and 1st wife Hilda. He is survived by wife 2nd Sunhui, and his sister Matria Fouts Queen of Tampa, Florida and brother Donald Fouts of Smyrna, Georgia. He is also survived by son, daughter-in-law and grandson, Timothy, Renee, and Jonathan of Pace, Florida.

At a young age Henry accepted Jesus Christ as his LORD and personal Savior, and married two God-fearing wives who had accepted Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior also. Through his God-fearing life he trained his son Timothy, who at a young age also accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior, and thus provided an heritage to those that fear God's name. Henry was a man who dedicated his life to God, his family and serving his country.

Visitation

Davis Memorial Chapel
6200 S. Eastern Ave.
Las Vegas, NV  89119
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Service

Celebration of Life

Davis Memorial Chapel
6200 S. Eastern Ave.
Las Vegas, NV  89119
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
10:00 AM