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Greetings from a collector in Luxembourg


Luxview
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While I’ve been a collector since my childhood, I am completely new to US Military. The journey started a while ago when I realized how far away WW2 and the liberation is for our kids. It is something they read about in books, but they don’t connect it with their lives anymore. I felt the need to do something to keep the memory alive. And as I truly believe history becomes tangible when you can link it with objects, I started looking for something that could represent the war for them. And what could be more iconic and representative than an M1 helmet?

 

What happened next was two things – I am not proud of it but I mention it because I guess this is what happens to others, too – first I bought some real garbage (obviously before I discovered this forum) by relying too much on – let’s say – overenthusiastic descriptions from sellers. I didn’t give up, started educating myself, fortunately discovered this forum, and finally proudly acquired my first real helmet. Second, while the interest of the kids unfortunately remained moderate, as I must admit, I couldn’t stop anymore. What about the M1 in later use? Korea? Vietnam? Then I had an opportunity to buy a complete grouping from a veteran’s grandson. Since that I only try to keep it under control, not to ruin myself, not to put my marriage status at risk, etc.

 

That’s my story, and again, I just put so much detail in the introduction because I assume this is somewhat a typical bio for a collector. Final thought was: What can I contribute to this forum? Probably not much – and that made me hesitate for quite some time to apply – but finally I decided to join in the hope that the day will come for me to add some value and also to appreciate all the help I already received as a guest reader. Thank you for your dedication, knowledge, and the discussion culture I already benefited from and hope to further benefit. Sorry, got much longer than expected at the end…

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Welcome to the group, Luxview. Have you done any research into the units that were in Luxembourg during WW II? The 2d Cavalry Group (2d Cavalry Regiment/2d Dragoons) spent much of the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg. They are the oldest continuously serving regiment in the US Army, 183 years.

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Welcome to the forum-

We are all here from different places, but with one thing in common - to learn and to share knowledge.

Happy to have you here and thanks for doing your part to keep the history alive!

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Don't worry about what you can contribute now as the new guy, use this as a venue to learn and, in time, you will find yourself teaching new members as they come along, and maybe even showing the old salts a thing or two. We all started somewhere, and there are no experts, just students

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Welcome to the forum. I too have little knowledge to contribute. But I have learned a lot from asking questions. There are plenty of folks here who are happy to help. Also, I have found answers just looking through the old posts. The answer to your question may help someone with the same question 10 years from now. It's happened to me several times.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome to the group, Luxview. Have you done any research into the units that were in Luxembourg during WW II? The 2d Cavalry Group (2d Cavalry Regiment/2d Dragoons) spent much of the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg. They are the oldest continuously serving regiment in the US Army, 183 years.

 

I did a bit of research but mainly about what happened in our area. During the Battle of the Bulge there was an encounter at the outskirts of our town (at Schankegriecht) when the 104th Infantry Regiment / 26th ID stopped the flood and prevented us from being occupied by the Germans again (in fact, when we dug a hole a couple of years ago for a water tank in the garden we found a German 8.8 shell). The service history of the 2nd Cavalry is very impressive. Thank you very much for the hint. I'll further investigate !!

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Simon Lerenfort

Welcome Luxview,

If you haven't visited it already check out the Museum at Diekirch, you will learn alot about the history of your part of the world from it. Plus you live on a battlefield so you might be surprised what still gets found in old houses and gardens, even after 75 years. Happy collecting, Salut!

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Welcome Luxview,

If you haven't visited it already check out the Museum at Diekirch, you will learn alot about the history of your part of the world from it. Plus you live on a battlefield so you might be surprised what still gets found in old houses and gardens, even after 75 years. Happy collecting, Salut!

 

Salut Simon, thank you very much. Yes, the NMMH in Diekirch is a great place and only 20 minutes from where I live!

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