Helmets Used in Grenada

[huntssurplus]

Hello,

 

I have been interested in the invasion of Grenada recently and a question of mine has popped up. From what I can see it seems like both the M1 Steel helmet and the K-pot were used in Grenada. The K-pot being used by the paratroops, and the M1 being used by the Rangers and the Marine Corps. Am I correct in this assessment?

Thanks,

Hunt

[Rakkasan187]

Hunt,

 

You are correct both helmets were worn.. The Kevlar was utilized and there is a documented account where an 82nd trooper's Kevlar was struck by an AK-47 round and the Soldier survived.

 

Leigh

[MattS]

I've seen that helmet in the 82nd Airborne Museum at Fort Bragg.

[Allan H.]

When I was at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1989, the Ordnance Museum had the helmet in their collection as the helmet had been sent there for study. The story with the helmet was that the wearer had only suffered a "severe headache" from the bullet strike. I thought at the time that the helmet would be a really great display, but I doubt that it was ever put out for the public to see.

 

The Kevlar helmets that I recall seeing were worn by the 505th AIR. They were called the "Ragheads" because of the BDU camo scrim that was sewn to the camo covers.

 

Allan

[huntssurplus]

Oh okay, I read about that story, apparently the range was less then 25 yards.

 

Was the M1 helmet more common during the invasion?

Hunt

[MattS]

Oh okay, I read about that story, apparently the range was less then 25 yards.

 

Was the M1 helmet more common during the invasion?

 

Hunt

 

I would say among the Marines it was.

 

I would swear that in 1994 the above mentioned PASGT that stopped the AK round during Grenada was on display at the 82nd museum, wish I had a photo of it. It was in a stand-alone acrylic box on a pedestal so you could see it from every side. Anyone have a photo?

 

[Allan H.]

MattS,

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the helmet was on display at FT Bragg. After all, the soldier wearing it was in the 82nd when he was hit. I am just saying that I recall seeing the helmet at APG, though it wasn't on display. I'm THRILLED to know that the helmet is now on display somewhere.

 

Allan

[Rakkasan187]

Here are some pictures of the helmet. Apparently on display at the 82nd Airborne museum currently..

 

The soldier was a member of E Company 2/325th Airborne Infantry..

 

 

 

Leigh

 

 

 

 

[Rakkasan187]

One more picture of the side of the right side of the helmet. It is reported that the bullet struck the right side of the Kevlar. Not sure if the light spot near the upper right rear is the bullet strike...

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Contemporary photos of US forces in Grenada, 1983

 

82nd Airborne

[Salvage Sailor]

Contemporary photos of US forces in Grenada, 1983

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Contemporary photos of US forces in Grenada, 1983

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Contemporary photos of US forces in Grenada, 1983

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Contemporary photos of US forces in Grenada, 1983

 

USAF Security Police

[Salvage Sailor]

Contemporary photos of US forces in Grenada, 1983

 

Rangers

 

[MattS]

Here are some pictures of the helmet. Apparently on display at the 82nd Airborne museum currently..

 

The soldier was a member of E Company 2/325th Airborne Infantry..

 

 

 

Leigh

 

 

 

 

 

They added the face paint to the head since I last saw it, but that's the way I remembered it. I volunteered there for a little while helping with 50th Anniversary of WW2 displays. Thanks for posting!

[huntssurplus]

Thanks for posting the pictures, it looks like it was on a unit by unit basis, i'm guessing that the army probably had a higher percentage of k-pots then m1 helmets, but the marine corps probably used only m1 helmets.

 

That one helmet is really cool, I hope to eventually make my way out there eventually!

Hunt

[milsurp_scout_14]

Thanks for those pictures---interesting to see the range of covers--Mitchell camo and late ERDL on the M1's, and the woodlands on the kevlars.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

From Natick Labs, the picture was taken December 7th 1983, not sure when it was hit but it was in Grenada.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

A second one from Natick, same date.

[MattS]

Those two helmets are mentioned here, one that stopped an AK round and one that was hit by 20mm shrapnel: https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/08/us/army-hails-new-helmets-value-in-grenada.html

 

I think it's safe to assume both were hit between 25-29 October, 1983. From another newspaper: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147892544/

 

During the helmet's debut in Grenada, 21-year-old paratrooper Brent Taylor was patrolling a Grenada street when three of the enemy opened fire with automatic weapons. He caught an AK-47 round in the helmet and lived.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Those two helmets are mentioned here, one that stopped an AK round and one that was hit by 20mm shrapnel: https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/08/us/army-hails-new-helmets-value-in-grenada.html

 

I think it's safe to assume both were hit between 25-29 October, 1983. From another newspaper: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147892544/

 

During the helmet's debut in Grenada, 21-year-old paratrooper Brent Taylor was patrolling a Grenada street when three of the enemy opened fire with automatic weapons. He caught an AK-47 round in the helmet and lived.

Thanks for the context!

[MattS]

No problem. Here's the highlights;

"''There are two specific cases in which the lives of soldiers were saved'' because the Kevlar helmet was worn instead of the steel pot, Lieut. Gen. Richard Thompson, the Army's logistics chief, reported last month to Gen. John A. Wickham Jr., the Army Chief of Staff. The report said that in one case ''a soldier took a hit to the head'' from an AK-47 Soviet assault rifle fired from no more than 25 yards. ''The result was a small dimple in the helmet and, more important, a soldier who is alive today,'' the report said. In another instance, the report said, a helmet was struck by a large piece of shrapnel from a 20-millimeter explosive round. ''Again, the protection afforded by the Kevlar helmet saved the life of the soldier,'' the report said."