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Fixed Bale 28th ID Painted Helmet


manayunkman
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I met Mr Uzemack the first time while he was working in his yard.

 

I started a conversation and when he divulged that he had his WW2 helmet I asked to see it.

 

He took me down to the basement and there it was hanging from a nail.

 

He didn't want to get rid of it but did tell me that as a POW he ate out of it.

 

He even showed me a carved spoon that he used to eat as a POW.

 

To me the spoon doesn't look used.

 

His wife found out that there was a stranger in the house and this visit is over.

 

I went back a few months later and his wife told me to never come back.

 

Years go by and I was invited to speak at the Central Pennsylvania POW meeting.

 

When I was done a man walked up to me and asked if I remembered him.

 

I didn't until he told me about the helmet.

 

It was Mr Uzemack. He liked what I had to say and offered me his helmet.

 

Much to his wifes disagreement he sold me the helmet in 2000.

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That is an AWESOME helmet!It's a miracle that some german did not take it as a trophy.I bet not very many POW'S made it home with the actual helmet they were captured in.My great uncle said when his platoon was captured they were ordered to drop everything except their clothing.Thanks for sharing this one!!

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I don't mean to offend, but to me the vet's story doesn't make any sense at all. The Germans for the most part did like the US did, captured men were stripped of military items, anything that could be used as a weapon, etc. I've seen plenty of photos where GI's were being marched to the rear still wearing helmets but I don't believe they would have been allowed to keep it upon reaching their final destination. And the Germans supplied POW's with eating utensils, why would he need to eat out of his helmet? I mean, why would he wear it to a POW camp, if his head was cold I can see keeping the liner, but why wear a steel pot, why even lug it with you?? Am I missing something in the story?

 

Larry

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I don't mean to offend, but to me the vet's story doesn't make any sense at all. The Germans for the most part did like the US did, captured men were stripped of military items, anything that could be used as a weapon, etc. I've seen plenty of photos where GI's were being marched to the rear still wearing helmets but I don't believe they would have been allowed to keep it upon reaching their final destination. And the Germans supplied POW's with eating utensils, why would he need to eat out of his helmet? I mean, why would he wear it to a POW camp, if his head was cold I can see keeping the liner, but why wear a steel pot, why even lug it with you?? Am I missing something in the story?

 

Larry

 

All I have is the story no other provenance.

 

I felt the same way about the spoon. The most obvious minus is the fact it's never been used.

 

He did say he carved it in the camp.

 

He also did a camp newsletter. Each copy had to be hand done.

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I don't mean to offend, but to me the vet's story doesn't make any sense at all. The Germans for the most part did like the US did, captured men were stripped of military items, anything that could be used as a weapon, etc. I've seen plenty of photos where GI's were being marched to the rear still wearing helmets but I don't believe they would have been allowed to keep it upon reaching their final destination. And the Germans supplied POW's with eating utensils, why would he need to eat out of his helmet? I mean, why would he wear it to a POW camp, if his head was cold I can see keeping the liner, but why wear a steel pot, why even lug it with you?? Am I missing something in the story?

 

Larry

 

 

Uzemack was a member of the 110th Regiment, which had a high number of POW's taken early on in the Bulge fighting. In the book "Voices from the Foxholes" --which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the 28th Division in WWII or the Battle of the Bulge-- Uzemack's fellow prisoner from the 110th, Robert Probach (who, like Uzemack, was held in Stalag IX B at Bad Orb, Germany), writing about his time spent in prison remembered:

 

 

"Every morning six small loaves of bread were delivered to each barracks. Each man received one small slice. The bread was made of barley and wheat husk with some sawdust mixed in. It was very sour and many of the men sickened on it. We tried to toast it against the stove, but the stove wasn't even warm.

In the afternoon we were marched to a soup kitchen, where each of us received one ladle of soup made from tops of sugar beets. We ate soup from our steel helmets or helmet liners. We had no eating utensils, so on the rare occasion when oats was mixed with the sugar beets, I ate my soup with a comb."

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He was certainly a POW. As for the helmet and spoon, I don't see why Uzemack would embelish the story. I'm sure Manny paid him fairly back in 2000, however I don't believe this helmet, even as a painted 28th with no provenance, would have fetched the price it would today or even 5 years ago. So it certainly wasn't embelished for profit.

 

Also, considering the fact he wasn't looking to sell when Manny initially met with him, I believe this ads validity to it. Captaxe's post above is of course the nail in the coffin.

 

As always, very nice lid and story, Manny!

 

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Uzemack was a member of the 110th Regiment, which had a high number of POW's taken early on in the Bulge fighting. In the book "Voices from the Foxholes" --which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the 28th Division in WWII or the Battle of the Bulge-- Uzemack's fellow prisoner from the 110th, Robert Probach (who, like Uzemack, was held in Stalag IX B at Bad Orb, Germany), writing about his time spent in prison remembered:

"Every morning six small loaves of bread were delivered to each barracks. Each man received one small slice. The bread was made of barley and wheat husk with some sawdust mixed in. It was very sour and many of the men sickened on it. We tried to toast it against the stove, but the stove wasn't even warm.

In the afternoon we were marched to a soup kitchen, where each of us received one ladle of soup made from tops of sugar beets. We ate soup from our steel helmets or helmet liners. We had no eating utensils, so on the rare occasion when oats was mixed with the sugar beets, I ate my soup with a comb."

 

 

All I can say is WOW !!!

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to present this.

 

I feel sane again.

 

You always go through some questioning when someone cast doubt as to somethings validity.

 

I started to think that I was told a tall tale.

 

Sort of lends credence to him carving a utensil as well.

 

Thanks

 

M

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