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airborneguy44
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All Great !!! But Trenchfoot...

This one caught my eye big time. WOWSER !

 

trenchfoot
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    • Member ID: 163,344
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Posted Today, 07:11 PM

I'll join

 

Battle damaged m1 helmet of Pfc Emlyn Jones, Company A, 317th Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, lightly wounded in the scalp in Macheren, France on November 30th, 1944 during the assault on the Maginot Line.

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Outside of my Dad's helmet that he wore from 60-67 in the Army and Army Reserves, this helmet means the most to me. It belonged to a replacement engineer who landed with the second wave on Utah Beach on D-Day. He'd been with the 26th ID prior to that 101st IR, but along with 26 other members of that Division had volunteered for Ranger training. He failed the physical aspects of Ranger training and was shifted to engineers. With the debacle at Slapton Sands, there was a need for replacement engineers and he was shipped over to join the invasion. They left on May 25, 1944 and got there on June 4th, transferring from ship to ship for the invasion. He never set foot in England until he was wounded in the Fall of 44. A complete stranger to his unit, he went ashore carrying explosives but they didn't trust him to use them so he was relieved of the explosives and spent much of D-Day probing for mines with his bayonet. His unit was attached to the 4th ID and he was with them for a couple months. He was returned to the 26th ID when they arrived and rejoined the 101st Infantry. In November of 44 while part of an attack on German positions he was seriously wounded by an artillery blast and lay unattended for a couple days before he was found. He spent the next six months in hospitals before returning to the States in June of 45. The helmet came home in the duffel bag that was shipped to his parents.

 

He says it's the one he wore on D-Day. Yes he was still living at the time I got the helmet. It's the dreaded swivel loop which freaks everyone out in regards to D-Day, but the circumstantial evidence at least supports the idea it may have been with him that day. He had just arrived as a replacement having left the States at the end of May 44. The helmet heat number fits with January/February production, so it's possible it was given to him before he went overseas. Doesn't matter to me though as I got to know and talk to a D-Day vet and have his helmet to remind me of that. I did add the net and liner chin strap. It's a plain Jane but special none the less. Hearing his story and that of the friends he lost and his experience in the war and how he dealt with it afterwards meant the world to me.

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Its not nearly as neat as some of the amazing helmets on here, but my rarest would probably be my salty and grafitied airborne helmet worn by an airforce CCT operator in Vietnam. Besides the great graffiti wings, the most important part of the helmet is the history because the individual was involved in securing landing zones for negotiators who were securing the release of American POWs in 1975 and was awarded a silver star when Saigon fell because he and a few other members of his team worked to remove unexploded ordinance from the airport runway so it could continue to operate.

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BigDogMilitaria

Two of my favorites in my collection, have a few more painted and rare lids , but don’t have pics handy Posted Image

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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1. My fixed bail Schlueter with net and identified to "Henry W. Lord" in salty condition.

 

 

2. My netted swivel bail helmet with a first private Insignia beneath a Lieutnant Insignia in a combat used condition.

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