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The Centerpiece


Bugme
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Were may I ask did you come across that beautiful helmet?? I have seen them in Pre-WWII pics but never in real life!!

Outstanding!! Tom

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BigDogMilitaria

Were may I ask did you come across that beautiful helmet?? I have seen them in Pre-WWII pics but never in real life!!

Outstanding!! Tom

 

Someone picked up one my cards and called me about some Nazi flags. And happened to also have "this old army helmet" when I stopped by. Thankfully I have a copy of Heroes in Our MIdst Vol 1 and knew what it was right away.

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Thanks HJS,

Man! am I ever envious!! I don't know if it cost you an arm and a leg, but I would have had to have that helmet regardless of price!!

Great find!!

Care to sell it???

Tom

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  • 2 months later...

I stumbled across this site and found it interesting. I started to think about the helmet I wore in Desert Shield/Storm as a Marine. I went into the attic and and found it in my old sea bag. As soon as I saw it the memories flooded back to another time and place in my life. As I pondered at the helmet I was surprised that it still had a smoky smell and I could see little black dots that were made by the oil fires. I had to put the Kevlar back on my head an look into a mirror. Once I saw my reflection all I could do was laugh at myself and say what happened to the young hard charger.

What you guys do with this web site is great. These helmets are very personal items that a man wore into battle and counted on to protect his life. It also became a part of him at that time. I know my helmet does not compare to the ones that are here but I would like to share with you.

 

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post-158162-0-66683800-1428547493.jpg

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ViewfinderGyrene

Can't contribute to this thread in the way it is intended since I have no lids, but wondered if anyone has an answer to a rather naive question I've always had:

 

Is there any particular reason why we don't see many [hardly at all] fully ID'd Marine Corps M1s w/ or w/o covers that came out of WWII?

 

VFG

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Can't contribute to this thread in the way it is intended since I have no lids, but wondered if anyone has an answer to a rather naive question I've always had:

 

Is there any particular reason why we don't see many [hardly at all] fully ID'd Marine Corps M1s w/ or w/o covers that came out of WWII?

 

VFG

 

Cant really give you a text book answer but my limited knowledge leads me to believe with Marine item in general they saw a lot of hard use to begin with and often recycled/reossued til the item was disposed of.

 

Dont know if you have seen this helmet topic I posted but its a helmet that should not have survived but for some reason it did.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/144261-if-only-it-could-speak/?hl=wren

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ViewfinderGyrene

 

Cant really give you a text book answer but my limited knowledge leads me to believe with Marine item in general they saw a lot of hard use to begin with and often recycled/reossued til the item was disposed of.

 

Dont know if you have seen this helmet topic I posted but its a helmet that should not have survived but for some reason it did.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/144261-if-only-it-could-speak/?hl=wren

 

Oh yes, saw that one but didn't see the separate thread. Remarkable and errie pot Doyler...

 

I cna imagine they would have been well, WELL used and in some cases, difficult to physically recover/bring off the island at re-embarkation. You would think they'd be glad to be wearing one as they moved off wherever they were, in the event of last ditch activity...

 

I can dream though ;)

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I stumbled across this site and found it interesting. I started to think about the helmet I wore in Desert Shield/Storm as a Marine. I went into the attic and and found it in my old sea bag. As soon as I saw it the memories flooded back to another time and place in my life. As I pondered at the helmet I was surprised that it still had a smoky smell and I could see little black dots that were made by the oil fires. I had to put the Kevlar back on my head an look into a mirror. Once I saw my reflection all I could do was laugh at myself and say what happened to the young hard charger.

What you guys do with this web site is great. These helmets are very personal items that a man wore into battle and counted on to protect his life. It also became a part of him at that time. I know my helmet does not compare to the ones that are here but I would like to share with you.

 

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Well I think that's an awesome helmet and I'm glad you found it and posted it! In many surplus stores and at many trade shows etc, a helmet like this may not draw a lot of interest, being fairly common and not particularly collectible at the moment, but you have made this one very special by your description of how you wore it in DS! ....and you nailed it right on the head, why those of us who collect helmets are so drawn to them. It's a very personal piece of kit and the one piece of gear to rely upon the most to keep the soldier safe.

 

Like you, just after joining this forum I went to the basement and dug out my old duffle bag and found my helmet, issued to me in 1980 (in the Canadian army) and was surprised to find it was a WWII manufactured Schlueter with a front seam, which was in mint condition when it was issued to me.

 

Anyway, thanks again for posting your helmet and sharing your memories with us, and welcome to the forum! You're going to love it here!

 

Rick

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Garandomatic

Well I think that's an awesome helmet and I'm glad you found it and posted it! In many surplus stores and at many trade shows etc, a helmet like this may not draw a lot of interest, being fairly common and not particularly collectible at the moment, but you have made this one very special by your description of how you wore it in DS! ....and you nailed it right on the head, why those of us who collect helmets are so drawn to them. It's a very personal piece of kit and the one piece of gear to rely upon the most to keep the soldier safe.

 

Like you, just after joining this forum I went to the basement and dug out my old duffle bag and found my helmet, issued to me in 1980 (in the Canadian army) and was surprised to find it was a WWII manufactured Schlueter with a front seam, which was in mint condition when it was issued to me.

 

Anyway, thanks again for posting your helmet and sharing your memories with us, and welcome to the forum! You're going to love it here!

 

Rick

That's pretty cool. My second WWII helmet was a 1980s National Guard issued piece. Repainted in that pea green, and it had a rebuilt liner in it. Odd thing, the suspension in the liner appeared to be made of nylon cloth, but it was made in the WWII pattern that had the straps connected by an "O" of string at the crown.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 5 years later...

Guess I would post my centerpiece here as well, but also to get this thread to the 1st page again! 

 

42nd Infantry Division helme, belonging to "Richard J. Tallman", field commissioned from Pvt. to 2nd Lt. after "Operation Northwind" 1945.

It's a tough one to find a original helmet net like this one and also to have an original 42nd ID helmet.  

PXL_20210122_144046377.PORTRAIT.jpg

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Burning Hazard

Wow, this thread is a blast from the past - a good portion of member who originally posted are long gone too.

 

Should get an updated version of this.

 

Pat

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General Apathy
On 5/20/2012 at 11:16 PM, Bugme said:

Every museum has what are referred to as "centerpiece" items. These are usually one or two items that the museum is known to have that no one else has. It's what draws people to the museum. Here in Wisconsin, there is a great museum called the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and the centerpiece is the WWII submarine: USS Cobia.

 

The same is true with helmet collectors. We all have a "centerpiece" item in our collection. It's the one piece that if you had only one helmet to keep, this would be the one. So, what's your centerpiece?

 

Rules: You can only post one here, not two or three... just the ONE that you consider the centerpiece.

I'll start with mine, it's been seen here before, I've got other ones I'd consider centerpiece also but, this is the one that stands above the others. It's a Market Garden Marked 501st, 3rd Bn, Fixed loop, Medic.

Resized_DSCN1778.JPG

.

Hi Scott, how have I missed this one for eight years . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

some nice helmets added here, I have sold off almost all my collection in the last couple of years but here's one I couldn't let go, it was the first Hawley I managed to find and it was one of my earliest purchases, so it's a keeper.

 

sadly the unit, rank, and rear stripe had already been sanded off the outer when I got it, but the rank is still to be seen on the surface of the liner. 

 

regards lewis. 

 

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General Apathy
12 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

That’s a drop dead gorgeous liner General!!

 

.

Hi Piet,  thanks it's one I love looking at on a regular basis. I just can't find the outer images at this minute. 

 

take care and be safe, General Apathy.

 

.

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The only helmet that will be left after all the others leave will be the one I wore in Desert Storm and prior to that at Fort Bragg where I earned my Master Parachutist Badge.  Still rigged for jumping, here's my center piece in original cover (I also have the cover I wore in Desert Storm).  All the other ones belonged to someone else, this one is mine.

 

 

 

 

KevlarC.jpg

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The centerpiece of this group is a liner that was worn by Col. Buie who was commander of the 272nd IR of the 69th ID. 
 

You can see that the rank was painted at least twice.

F81C5AA3-F832-4832-B74B-7A68EAF0FE69.jpeg

08CD34A9-FE40-4582-AA0F-3C8280EEF382.jpeg

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