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WWII USMC M1 helmet with EGA and Hawley liner


WWII_GI
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I like this helmet. It looks right. However, in all honesty everything is one big circle jerk of conflicting opinions and theory until proper provenance is acquired.

 

If I saw this helmet as is at a show, I would have bought it. I have no trouble believing the corps attached EGA's to helmets early in the war.

 

I have seen 100 percent original helmets with holes drilled in the front for affixing insignia.

 

I too, have seen pictures of EGA's stenciled on helmet covers in pictures that were claimed to be taken in WWII.

 

Lets step back and calm down and wait for Steven to give us a name from the seller.

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Another thing that gives me a bit of pause is whats being called possible camo. To me it looks like there are several layers of paint. The top layer being the blue color. And the next layer almost looks gold in these pics, but it could be the lighting.

 

The whole helmet is the standard factory green, The front has a lot of paint scraped off and that is why there is a lot of brown (surface rust) The blue is just a few very light streaks on the helmets left front side. It looks like there is some lighter color paint on it but not huge layers of it.

 

-Steven

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I like this helmet but, agree that it looks like different colors but not necessarily intended to be camo of some kind. It is intriguing and makes a person wonder what was scraped off.

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I like this helmet but, agree that it looks like different colors but not necessarily intended to be camo of some kind. It is intriguing and makes a person wonder what was scraped off.

Thanks, also pictures always bring out the colors more so it looks slightly different person. I was wondering that too, why would they scrape off so much paint, it's definitely odd.

 

Thanks for the kind comments guys, I'm still awaiting a response from the seller.

 

-Steven

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Thanks, also pictures always bring out the colors more so it looks slightly different person. I was wondering that too, why would they scrape off so much paint, it's definitely odd.

 

Thanks for the kind comments guys, I'm still awaiting a response from the seller.

 

-Steven

 

Pics didnt do this one justice at first. I take it back :) I think you got a winner! :) Still not sure what to meke of the paint either not sure its camo......hmmm

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Pics didnt do this one justice at first. I take it back :) I think you got a winner! :) Still not sure what to meke of the paint either not sure its camo......hmmm

Awesome! Well this ones staying in the collection, a new centerpiece for me. I'll get a picture of it in natural light later.

 

Thanks guys!

-Steven

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USMC-RECON0321

First let me say, that is a great looking salty helmet set congrats. But to be honest, the nice condition of that EGA sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the exterior of the shell? It just doesn't make sense. I do like the indent of the liner showing something was pushing it in for many years, but I don't think it was that EGA, maybe another one, but not that one? Also, I'm a little thrown off by the perfect shadow of an EGA on the shell behind the emblem? Maybe seeing it in hand would change my perception, but in the pictures it looks like a perfect EGA shadow. How would that even happen? It's not like it was weather sealed to the shell, and what ever ran down the exterior of the shell rusting it, would've certainly done the same behind the emblem. I'm sure you would see a slight mild outline difference, but not like that.

 

Maybe everything is just as it appears, but at some time later in life, the EGA got changed out?

 

Nice set and hope you get good information back from the seller.

Troy

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First let me say, that is a great looking salty helmet set congrats. But to be honest, the nice condition of that EGA sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the exterior of the shell? It just doesn't make sense. I do like the indent of the liner showing something was pushing it in for many years, but I don't think it was that EGA, maybe another one, but not that one? Also, I'm a little thrown off by the perfect shadow of an EGA on the shell behind the emblem? Maybe seeing it in hand would change my perception, but in the pictures it looks like a perfect EGA shadow. How would that even happen? It's not like it was weather sealed to the shell, and what ever ran down the exterior of the shell rusting it, would've certainly done the same behind the emblem. I'm sure you would see a slight mild outline difference, but not like that.

 

Maybe everything is just as it appears, but at some time later in life, the EGA got changed out?

 

Nice set and hope you get good information back from the seller.

Troy

perhaps the EGA was on it when painted then recently stripped and cleaned or the painted one was replaced with this one?

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I get what you're saying but I guess we will never really know, it could have been replaced after the war, maybe he had one and it got scratched and damaged from use and he replaced it after the war. That outline is created from the bare metal and the rust on the exposed metal. The EGA was pretty tight on the helmet and it could have protected the steel from the elements.

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I found MBK written in the liner, It could be intitials, ill just have to wait for the name from the seller. You can also see the bulge and cracks from the indention caused by the EGA.

 

-Steven

 

post-104606-0-49585500-1420770997.jpg

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Here's the story from the seller

 

The helmet belonged to my wifes father, Mark Kaman. He lived in Kansas, about 50 miles west of Kansas City. He joined the marines at age 18 and ended up in Guadalcanal. He was injured there, where he lost the middle and ring finger, and part of his palm of his left hand to a gunshot wound which made his left hand very limited in its use. Years later, it was thought that he was injured by Friendly Fire, which was more common than anyone thought. He probably couldnt hold a rifle anymore, and after several surgeries he was sent to Trenton, NJ for desk duty as a Weather analyst.

 

He met his future wife and had a daughter, my now wife. He died in 1976, at age 54, before I got married to his daughter. I knew him before he died, but I never asked him much about the war, and he never brought it up. In those days people didnt talk much about that, except if they were with other people who went through the same experiences. After the War, he continued to work in Trenton, for the Government, I think in the Tax Division

 

He was always very self-conscious about his left hand, always thrusting it into a pants pocket, because it looked very mangled, and had limited use.

It is not a very thrilling story, but that is it in a nutshell.

I didnt find any other war items. His wife passed away just in 2014, which is when we cleaned out her home and sold it. She may have disposed of the war things when he died in 1976.

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Here's the story from the seller

The helmet belonged to my wifes father, Mark Kaman. He lived in Kansas, about 50 miles west of Kansas City. He joined the marines at age 18 and ended up in Guadalcanal. He was injured there, where he lost the middle and ring finger, and part of his palm of his left hand to a gunshot wound which made his left hand very limited in its use. Years later, it was thought that he was injured by Friendly Fire, which was more common than anyone thought. He probably couldnt hold a rifle anymore, and after several surgeries he was sent to Trenton, NJ for desk duty as a Weather analyst.

He met his future wife and had a daughter, my now wife. He died in 1976, at age 54, before I got married to his daughter. I knew him before he died, but I never asked him much about the war, and he never brought it up. In those days people didnt talk much about that, except if they were with other people who went through the same experiences. After the War, he continued to work in Trenton, for the Government, I think in the Tax Division

He was always very self-conscious about his left hand, always thrusting it into a pants pocket, because it looked very mangled, and had limited use.

It is not a very thrilling story, but that is it in a nutshell.

I didnt find any other war items. His wife passed away just in 2014, which is when we cleaned out her home and sold it. She may have disposed of the war things when he died in 1976.

great story but was there any actual names? Or are you jusy keeping them out of it for privacy?
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great story but was there any actual names? Or are you jusy keeping them out of it for privacy?

The only name he gave me was the name of the Marine.

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