D-Day M1 from Utah Beach

[Ronnie]

Hold on to your seats guys. This is long and crazy but a really neat story. Been wanting to tell this story for a long time but it is so dang long I just kept putting it off. Anyway here goes.

In 1994 I had a trip to Normandy planned for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Somehow word got out of my trip and I got a call from a lady who's late husband was a Veteran of the landings on June 6, 1944. She and her husband had been to Normandy and she had some maps of the area and thought I might use them. I went to her house to pick up the maps and we visited for a while. Her late husband had been a Lt. In the 4th ID. I took the maps and left. Sometime after I got back this lady called me and asked if I wanted his uniform. Of course I did so I went to pick it up. I don't remember if this was 2 months, 5 months or even a year after my trip. What she had for me was his pink and greens uniform with shirts, trousers, ties, and overseas cap. I took it home and found a couple of pieces of insignia and his dog tags in a pocket. then I get another call from her and again I don't remember how long it was between the time I got this call and the time I picked up the dress uniform. At any rate she said she had some more stuff for me. I went back and this time she had an officers bed roll and a couple of pieces of web gear. I was great full, thanked her and took the stuff home. I'm in the insurance business and I have several contractors who I refer clients to when they have a claim. One of these contractors is really good at finding Militaria and just giving it to me. I try to pay him but he has always wanted nothing. So one day I get a call from him that he has something for me. I told him I was on my way to his house to check it out. When I got there we sat on his patio and he went to the garage and came out with a duffle bag. He said he had been doing work for Mrs. Norma Riser and she wanted this stuff thrown away. Mrs. Riser is the lady that had given me her husbands stuff. Why she didn't offer it to me will always be a mystery. At any rate I reached into the bag and pulled out a beautiful fixed bail M1 helmet. I could not believe it. There was also a blanket, a Musette bag, pistol belt, German compass and a trouser belt. There were a few other little odds and ends also. The helmet was what I liked as I collect helmets. I couldn't believe how lucky I wasn't to end up with the helmet and other items. Time passes by and Mrs. Riser passes away. There was an estate sale. I didn't go because I figured that I had all the Militaria and didn't want to fight the crowd. Some more time passes by. One day I get a call from a man that cleans out buildings. He had cleaned out a second hand store that had gone out of business. He has brought me stuff before which I always paid him for. Anyway he has something I might want. Tells me it's mostly paper and comes to my office. He had a cardboard box filled with paper items, newspaper clipping, official looking documents and a plastic bag with a piece of folded paper and what was easily recognized as a piece of parachute material. The guy says this is Camo and I thought you would want this. I opened the bag up and unfolded the material. It revealed a piece of parachute material cut in a circle with two holes cut in the side. Unfolded the paper and it was a note that said...."this piece of parachute material was picked up by my husband, Robert Riser not far from Utah Beach and worn by him until he was wounded in July 1944 and evacuated." Signed by Mrs. Normal Riser. I realized then what the holes were for. I paid the guy 20 bucks for the piece and went home immediately. Got Lt. Riser's helmet down and the holes matched perfectly for the chin straps to go thru. I could not believe my luck. Really is strange how this all came about...how I ended up with some stuff that was destined to the garbage but ended up with me and then more stuff that had been in a second hand store and was left there when the store closed. It all ended up in my collection and it was just strange luck that it all came together. Anyway that's the story. Hope you all enjoyed it and the pictures.

 

Ronnie

[eagle5036]

Very cool story!

[Johannes]

That's an amazing story!

[Ronnie]

It was meant to be!

Thanks guys.

Ronnie

[WW2JAKE]

there's no doubt you were meant to have it all. whats interesting at least to me, is that you probably received the items in the same order as him! very cool, I could only ever dream of something like that. not to mention it sounds like you spent all of $20 on a one of a kind irreplaceable group

[David D]

Very cool story. That is one sharp looking helmet!

[lovmilinsig]

Seems like you were destined to have these items. BTW, great story.

 

Ed

[sgtdorango]

Bazinga!!!.....super helmet and story ronnie!....mike

[king802]

Does the liner have blackened brass A washers ?

 

Rich

[BILL THE PATCH]

Unbelievable!!, So cool.

 

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

 

 

[M24 Chaffee]

Very unique collector story and helmet! It looks great!

 

Frank

[268th C.A.]

Here is the moral of the story....Never turn down anything some one gives you, you never know what will come next. I have had this happen so many times before. Excellent story! Thanks for sharing. Great grouping save!

[james127]

He said he had been doing work for Mrs. Norma Riser and she wanted this stuff thrown away.

 

Sad to think about how much stuff has been lost to the trash heap over the years.

[GoldenCross]

Killer story!! Did you happen to take any photos of the helmet before you put the cover on?

[McDermut99]

Now that is a cool story! Just goes to show how persistence can pay off.

[ccyooper]

Do you believe this helmet is the helmet and liner he was wearing prior to his evacuation in July 1944 or possibly after that when he may have been returned to service? It would be great if someone did the research on the officer to put together a time line. Maybe you have that with the paperwork you recovered. I too would like to see the markings on the helmet and liner. Thank you for sharing.

[1canpara]

Wow Ronnie, what an incredible story! Thanks for sharing, and what a great helmet!

 

Rick

[BOLO]

This shows that just because a helmet is in excellent condition, doesnt always mean it was never used in combat, especially if they took good care of it, the way it was stored has a lot to do with the condition.

 

some soldiers stored everything down in a damp basement or out in the barn for 50 years, this one was probably stored in his duffle bag in a dry place.

 

and kept it just it looked when he put it away in 1945

[Ronny67]

very cool

[jguy1986]

Now that's a terrific story, so glad you were fortunate enough to have the pieces fall into place. I'd also love to see the uniform and the rest of the grouping, if at all possible.

[Bugme]

Sometimes things just work in our favor Ronnie, I'm working on putting a group back together right now. It's exciting to collect this stuff!

[Screamingeagles101]

Awesome story and find.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zippy144]

Hi

 

What a cool story...

 

Regards

 

Tom

[Ronnie]

Do you believe this helmet is the helmet and liner he was wearing prior to his evacuation in July 1944 or possibly after that when he may have been returned to service? It would be great if someone did the research on the officer to put together a time line. Maybe you have that with the paperwork you recovered. I too would like to see the markings on the helmet and liner. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks to everyone for the comments. Glad I finally told the story.

Yoop I have no way of knowing if this is the actual helmet he wore on D-Day....but I believe it is because of a couple of reasons.

1.) the helmet does not have a lot of abuse. It's in pretty darn good shape. He landed on June 6th then was wounded just over a month later. To me the amount of wear on the helmet matches the short time he was there. Plus I have seen many photos of wounded soldiers being loaded onto LST's and LCVP's and many of them have their helmet right there with them. Lt. Riser could be one pictured....who knows.

2.) he obviously brought the cover home so why would he not bring helmet?

3.) realistically I suppose it could be a replacement helmet and it was just easy for him to bring the cover home.

4.) if he had received new equipment would it not have been OD#7 in color? The stuff that I have is OD#3.

I guess that doesn't mean anything either but something to think about.

I will take more photos of the helmet with the cover off and of his uniform.

Thanks.

Ronnie

[jkash23686]

4.) if he had received new equipment would it not have been OD#7 in color? The stuff that I have is OD#3.

 

Not really. If it was a replacement lid, they would have used whatever was in on hand so it could have been someone else's lid beforehand, and they didn't pull things out of crates in order if it was new stock so a fixed bail is not out of the question.