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Fake: M2 of Lt. Joseph Shelton 505th PIR - jkash


jkash23686
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Jamie and all,

 

I have been following this forum closely as I had purchased one of your helmets for sale last Christmas time. It was the 502nd PIR marked Schlueter M-1 you had listed in late November/Early December. While it was not nearly the same cost as the other helmets these gentlemen have put in, I feel it's fair to try and give me an answer as well on if this is a faked helmet too. You told me it was on consignment from a European collector.

 

Forum members: I am not tech savvy here but if anyone can help post pictures for me I will send them to you.

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I'm not going to lie. What happened here sucks and I've just been watching the comments up until now cause I had nothing to add that would be beneficial to the thread.

 

That being said. I believe Jamie is still very knowledgeable on airborne helmets and spotting fakes. Which yes I understand he used his knowledge for wrong and there should be repercussions (which some have set in already) but I still feel if he was banned as quite a few members are suggesting, then we would still be losing a huge source of knowledge... Whether someone trusts any knowledge he shares is a different story.

 

I feel like he can still help this community even though he also harmed it. I think it'd be most beneficial to put him on probation, even if that means just leaving him unable to sell rather than banning him all together.

 

But that's just how I feel as someone outside of the situation who isn't seeing red.

 

Jake

This is hands down the dumbest post in this entire thread. Jamie learned everything he knows from THIS FORUM and the community itself, in which he claimed a name and used this information to rip forum memebers off for THOUSANDS of dollars.

 

Go look at some of his post from when he first become a memeber. He asked the same questions any 15 year old who just finished Band of Brothers would ask.

 

I'm glad you waited this long to post and really hope you reconsider next time you plan to.

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So, you people now want truthful answers from someone against whom you just produced clear and convincing evidence of fraud? Seriously? ?

 

Fraudsters need to be run out of this hobby on a rail.

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So, you people now want truthful answers from someone against whom you just produced clear and convincing evidence of fraud? Seriously? ?

 

Fraudsters need to be run out of this hobby on a rail.

 

Yes, actually I would like that.

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This is hands down the dumbest post in this entire thread. Jamie learned everything he knows from THIS FORUM and the community itself, in which he claimed a name and used this information to rip forum memebers off for THOUSANDS of dollars.

 

Go look at some of his post from when he first become a memeber. He asked the same questions any 15 year old who just finished Band of Brothers would ask.

 

I'm glad you waited this long to post and really hope you reconsider next time you plan to.

So because he joined and may not have had the most knowledge that means he still isn't knowledgeable years later? he has done no research outside of the forum and no hands on experience at all? everything he needed was just common knowledge here on the forum available to all "memebers"

 

There's a lot of members who are filled with knowledge here whose first posts consist of "is this WW2?". I'm not understanding why that didn't make him any less of a source of knowledge a few weeks ago before any one knew he faked helmets, but does now that everyone knows?

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You're right Jake. Lets keep him on the forum. The fraud, lies and fake helmets should just be water under the bridge, after all he is giving out refunds for these bad helmets that have collapsed the market.

 

He's only stolen thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars from forum members over the years.

 

Next time someone post a link to a D loop on ebay we will all be able to rest easy knowing one of the biggest fakers in the M1 helmet community has givin' it the OK.

 

The information Jamie has about ww2 helmets is mainly due to this forum and its members. What information could Jamie possibly give anybody that you can't find yourself? Maybe one more D Loop thread? Another "Is this USMC cover real?" Would you want his opinion on a painted helmet?

 

What happens in a few years when the forum is full of new memebers who are unaware of him and history and off forum deals are being made?

 

I've never seen that 502 until tonight, he's not posted it anywhere, just sold it to a seemly unknown forum member who was taken a ride.

 

So Jake, what information can Mr Jkash give you and the forum that isn't already avaliable?

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Some of the work done here by the members of this forum is truly amazing ! For those that have taken the Time with the resizing of the pics , looking for the clues, studying all the pics and given detailed info on this helmet I thankyou.

We should all be as vigilant and determined from now on , and more importantly should stick together as a forum to help weed out the fakers and bring to light these types of topics so others don't get burned

 

+1

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So Jake, what information can Mr Jkash give you and the forum that isn't already avaliable?

well if I knew that, then I wouldn't need to see what he said. would I?

 

It's not like I'm suggesting something new. people have been getting info from those who wronged them for years because those who did wrong know how to spot it. Same can be said for Jamie.

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well if I knew that, then I wouldn't need to see what he said. would I?

 

 

Definitely, why do your own research when you could just ask a forum...

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It's not like I'm suggesting something new. people have been getting info from those who wronged them for years because those who did wrong know how to spot it. Same can be said for Jamie.

Can you please share an example of this idiotic statement?

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twisting words an other hobby of yours?

I'm not twisting words Jake. You're saying Jamie is of value to the forum because of the information he holds. He is not. Do some research yourself and you'll find the answers you are looking for, obviously that takes more time then posting a thread with a question.

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I'm not twisting words Jake. You're saying Jamie is of value to the forum because of the information he holds. He is not. Do some research yourself and you'll find the answers you are looking for, obviously that takes more time then posting a thread with a question.

no I'm saying this forum is a collective of information given by its members. sometimes you can in fact only find information here on the forum because only x amount of people have access to it's original source. It might not be available in a book or online, you might have to physically hold it until a member scans a piece of paper and shares it. I believe Jamie has had access to quite a bit of information that the everyday person can not get.

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Like what?

like how nobody could find any info on parish reading helmets before a year or so ago. Then someone just happened to have a piece. Like a box of unissued helmets bought at some random auction that was the only info that could be found on a particular type of lot number. Could be anything. And I know he was part of a private forum. Who's to say someone there didn't have info that we can't get our hands on? Like if helmet covers with slits are actually late war or early war.
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Allow me to start with a story. About a year ago, I was starting to get really burned out by the hobby. I still loved the research, but the hobby itself was losing its luster. I began searching less, buying less, and participating here more so in the moderator capacities than anything else. I still loved the research. I was sick of the egos, the fights, the armchair research...you know, the usual stuff that has always been a plague on our hobby. Then Uncle Sam decided to send me to a faraway land to do the things that he pays me to do, so that I can afford to participate in this hobby of ours. I welcomed the breather, time to refocus, refresh, etc...we all need it from time to time. As my time for return to the US draws nearer and nearer, I have recently found that old flame rekindling, and the thought of the hunt plucking at the cords. My hopes for the hobby renewed.

 

Then I found this train wreck topic.

 

Strap yourself in, this could take awhile....there's so much wrong here, and the merry-go-round has been flying so rapidly, that it can't even be approached sequentially. So I'll approach them as they come to me. I know next to jack and squat about helmets, so I will not make comments on the helmets. This thread ceased to be about helmets a few dozen pages ago, anyhow.

 

If these don't apply to you, then they don't apply to you. Water off a duck.

 

1) Member disappears for a few weeks to Africa, the masses scream conspiracy and call BS. Then proceed to crucify him to keep themselves occupied while awaiting his return. Really? People in this day and age don't disappear off the grid occasionally? We have enough military veterans here to know that's complete bull, it happens every day in our line of work...deployments, field ops, conferences in places where the wifi is not trusted. Now, before you all get up in arms and say "but Briiiiiiig, he's not in the military..." THAT's NOT THE POINT. The point is it happens, but people refused to believe it.

 

Members then proceeded to try him in his absence, and when he returned, they berated and demanded answers. If I was him, who knows what answers, if any, I would bother to give. I might just tell you I asked Santa Claus really nicely for a box of painted helmets, and he delivered. I didn't know the elves had painted them up. My point is that in many cases it doesn't matter what answers are given, minds have been made up. If the forum was a courtroom, and the membership potential jurors, the case would be thrown out on grounds of bias. That said, I might be wasting my time, but I'll continue anyway....

 

2) Implications have been made that mods/admins are covering stuff up, and that some big time helmet collectors must have been involved, because they haven't spoken up here. Some of the most experienced and knowledgeable collectors out there, in all fields, do not actively participate in online forums, much because of the kinds of antics displayed in this single topic. And the admins have bent over backwards to keep this topic alive so that it can be given the attention it deserves, which is something in now non-existent forums we know didn't happen. Again, more conspiracy theories. We certainly do love them, don't we?

 

3) The internet has bred armchair collectors. That is, lazy collectors who can't be bothered to learn their field when they can post pictures and get the answers they need. I would venture that many of you got out of the Third Reich hobby, at least in part, because you got tired of people posting simply "fake" with no explanations, so that you could learn from it for the future. It sure can be frustrating to be told something you thought was original is fake, but have no idea as to why. Not very helpful. But that's what armchair collecting has devolved into. I will admit I may have been guilty a time or two of a simple "fake" statement, but I try to explain why for the most part, so that it's out there to be learned from. But we as a community have begun largely to embrace such comments, and began dubbing those who say them as Gurus...I guess if they are so certain of an item being fake that they can confidently sum it up in a word, they must be an expert.

 

"Gurus" often become "gurus" because other collectors elevate them to that status. Look in the mirror and turn those fingers around on yourselves, how many of you in this topic have posted on Jamie's helmets over these years with glowing praise and recommendations, simply because he's Jkash the helmet guru? If you identify yourself in any way as an amateur-historian and not just an accumulator of stuff (collector), you might want to reach through the mirror and smack yourself. In my younger days, I may have been guilty of such blind trust a time or two, and I wish I could go back in time and haze the crap out of myself for it. Hell...we all have probably been guilty of it, buying something on trust. And we've probably all been burned by it. But most kids who stick their hands in the outlets tend to learn from their mistakes, and that doesn't seem to be happening these days.

 

Historians should be approaching subjects without bias, and looking for quantifiable facts. Period images, cited references, iron clad provenance...these are facts. Someone throwing something up on the internet and saying. "Real...because I say so, and it was commonly done, and that's well known! Now worship my ability to find it" is not quantifiable evidence, unless they support it with a photo or reference. But some collectors are so concerned with not being the unknowing novice, that they blindly nod and agree like a herd of sheep. In fact, that's what con artists rely on...be it someone not knowing what they're buying, to someone not knowing the rules to a card game. They exploit that. There are very, very few people in this world who I explicitly trust, and even then I like to know how they knew something was fake or genuine, and continue to research it myself. But a lot of people were willing to blindly give this guy their unconditional trust. A lot of egg on faces with this guy.

 

Additionally, historians approach matters calmly, and explore the facts, they don't allow their emotions to drive the investigation. They take methodical approaches. It was recommended that the shotgunning of questions be ceased and a comprehensive list be compiled for ease and to reduce confusion and chaos. Instead more buckshot was discharged. The approach to this matter has shown an alarming lack of the qualities we take pride in as a historical community.

 

Many of you have demanded answers. No matter what answers this guy gives, how can they be trusted? As historians, we have to realize he's an unreliable source. He has been debunked as a "Guru", after never having proven himself as one but instead garnering a blind following. Anything he may say now has to be approached as a theory, and collectors will have to do their own research to determine the validity of anything he says. If he was a book, I certainly wouldn't reference it in my own research, for fear of tainting my own reputation as a researcher.

 

Which brings me to my next point...

 

4) We are currently facing hobby-related problems in the world outside of our little communty. I have made friends with a local curator and published historian who has some sour views of collectors, this topic certainly doesn't support the way I've been presenting you all for the past six months. Right now, the medal collectors are trying to prove to the world that collectors have integrity and are often the best caretakers of these pieces. They are fighting a proposal to outlaw the sale of Purple Hearts, and fighting a villainization of our community by those who think we're money grubbing, materialistic scoundrels. Not only has one person completely undermined that attempt by knowingly counterfeiting and fraudulently selling off fake helmets, but his victims have reinforced that outside view by the way they have acted in this topic. Politicians and media outlets alike have been directed to this forum, to this community, to witness for themselves the maturity, love, and professional approach collectors take in caring for history. This thread, which could have served as a strong argument in our favor, instead stands as a 40 page argument in favor of those out to paint us the villains. Instead of digging fighting holes, we're digging graves.

 

I will end with this...it's disgraceful that such a snake hid in our own yard, but we have to accept some of the guilt in that we as collectors didn't trim the grass low enough to detect it. How we choose to handle such a situation will say a lot about us, not just inside the collecting community, but outside as well as these issues such as the Purple Heart matter develop. Right now, because of the behaviors of both sides of the fence, I feel a need to reevaluate my own future within the hobby. At the moment, this is not a community, it is a mob

 

And please don't take this as a crack to those of you who got burned, it is unacceptable that a member of our community preyed on our own, and I am truly glad the refunds are coming. I am also not protecting or justifying such despicable actions, and the destruction of the reputation both here and with anyone who googles his name will be on his own conscience, so long as it is for proven infractions, behaviors, and lack of ethics. This event should be taken as a learning lesson, but also as an opportunity to rationally show the world the good that can come from the vast majority of us who are ethical

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+1

 

I feel I need to express my thanks to the people that bought this to light and spent there time posting pics and examining the photos that brought this whole topic to where it is now.

Everyone that has received a refund should thank these individuals for there efforts and time spent revealing Jamie Kashetta for what he is.

Also future collectors and current collectors will be more vigilant now as this thread is a big eye opener to us all.

 

Let's not argue amongst ourselves , this forum has suffered enough. We need to unite and regroup and get back to what we love.

 

Dean

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Great post Brig. Let's learn from this.

 

In the spirit of community why don't we try to help member panzer224. Does someone have a close up of the 501st diamond Jaime has sold and I believe refunded? He took down his instagram and removed it from his website. Can we do a side by side with the heart on panzer224's helmet.

 

Pete

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