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Vietnam War Graffiti Helmet Mystery - HELP Needed!

militbuff

By militbuff,
in M-1; M-1C & M-2 HELMETS

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militbuff

militbuff

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This story begins (for me) back in 1999. I got a call from an old woman who said that her husband (Major Frank Garbers, USA Ret.) had been in the Special Forces and served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and she said she had a ton of stuff. Naturally, I rushed out to her apt that day. When I got there, she had just moved in and her apt was filled floor to ceiling with tons of stuff, not a lot of it military that I could see.

 

She told me that her husband had died a few years back (see headstone below) and she started complaining about him, saying he had always been away etc. and that in combat in 3 wars, he hadn't gotten a scratch. While her son (whose name I didn't ask about) went to Vietnam as a Lt. in her husband's WWII outfit (503rd A/B Infantry) and was badly wounded his first month there. Honestly, I wanted to get to work to start locating militaria but I wasn't able to find a whole lot of items b/c her apt was floor to ceiling with stuff of all sorts. I would have stayed forever (I even offered to help her put stuff away) but she kicked me out after a while, although I did find a few of her husband's Indochina/Vietnam MAAG patches. Some of the pics I found of her husband in uniform she wanted to hold on to. I waited a month or two and called her again but she really didn't seem too interested in getting rid of stuff. I finally was able to go back and her apt was in the same condition as before. I found a few more things but again she had no interest in selling a lot of the military items. I finally gave up. It was one of those experiences that makes you wonder why she ever called me in the first place. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that people's lives together aren't always that happy and that people are often conflicted about their life experiences.

 

Fast forward a couple of years (maybe 2004?) and I get a call from a guy who bought an old house and it's full of military items. Naturally, I rush out there and it's full of military items as well as a ton of other stuff top to floor! Lucky for me, this guy was fixing up the house and told me to take my time. Was I shocked (and saddened) when I came across a bunch of items that said the owner of the house had been Louis Garbers, the SON of Major Garbers! The poor fellow was only 54 when he died. That's when I came across these 2 helmets. I did some research and came across the pics below of his headstone in Arlington Cemetery. He had joined the army in 1966 as a private and became a paratrooper in the 82nd airborne, gone to OCS at some point, and then shipped out to Vietnam perhaps in 1969 (that year seems to stick in my head).

 

I found these 2 helmets in his house. I couldn't understand why the one with the Lt. Col. Leaf had Vietnam War graffiti on it especially as he had been wounded as a Lt. I think he may have stayed in the reserves after he recovered and become a Lt. Colonel. For the life of me, I can't figure out why his helmet cover has graffiti on it. Perhaps it was his cover from Vietnam? It looks like there were captain's bars embroidered on to it before the Lt. Col. Leaf and maybe there was a Lt. Bar on before that? I can't imagine that he would have been able to hold on to his helmet if he was badly wounded. Perhaps when he retired from the reserves, he put the grafitti on to honor his service in Vietnam?

 

Whatever the case, here are the 2 helmets. I'm a patch collector and have no expertise in helmets. Other than the helmet with the Major's Leaf on it (which is clearly post-Vietnam), I can't tell if the other helmet and cover is Vietnam-era or post Vietnam. I'm of the opinion that the graffiti helmet is post Vietnam and that he did the graffiti upon his retirement from the reserves. I hadn't thought of these helmets in years until I was cleaning out my basement yesterday. That got me thinking about this mystery all over again!

 

Any thoughts/opinions/comments etc. are welcome! Enjoy! Dan

post-1945-0-35068300-1386780788.jpg

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militbuff

militbuff

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L - I love this pic. A number of years back, I downloaded this from a site of a former classmate of his from a US Army high school in Germany where the Lt. And his friends had attended (see obit). Apparently, it was taken while he was still in the 82nd before he went to Vietnam.

post-1945-0-83351500-1386781964.jpg

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