WWII_GI Posted October 7, 2019 Share #1 Posted October 7, 2019 Picked up this one last week, very excited to finally have one of these in my collection. The helmet and liner came together as a pair, the liner is nicely marked to a Sgt. in the 87th infantry division 345th infantry regiment. The webbing shows some use and is pretty greasy and torn in some areas. It is laundry marked, the last number is smeared so Its hard to make out but I think it is a 0, making the laundry code P-2980. The helmet shell doesn't seem like a match to the liner, theres no names or markings on it. It has a thick glossy repaint and appears to have once had decals on the sides? They were removed which left white residue. Also the interior is very rusty, has a splotch of spray paint, the straps are torn up and missing hardware. There appears to be a red painted marking on the front and back but they were painted over. Is there any reason to think this is a matching set other than the fact that it came together? So based off the markings painted on the liner and the laundry mark I believe I found an Id. I looked up the laundry mark and came up with over 30 matches. The 87th division rosters are online and mostly complete (94 pages of names). So I searched each name that came up from the laundry number in the rosters and only found one match. The rosters also show that he was in the 345th infantry regiment so that matches up with the triangle mark. On ancestry.com his veteran burial information info states Sgt. WWII. Lastly his enlistment records show he enlisted in August of 1944 and his obituary and WWIIMemorial say that he was a machine gunner and was wounded in Germany. All the information points to him, I'm just hesitant with the last number of his laundry number, it sure looks like a smeared 0 but I cant be certain? http://wwii-enlistment.com/record/37772980/ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71051928/raymond-donald-peterson http://www.wwiimemorial.com/Registry/plaque.aspx?honoreeID=1387738 -Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWII_GI Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share #2 Posted October 7, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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AustinO Posted October 7, 2019 Share #7 Posted October 7, 2019 I would check the 8's for posterity too, but I think you have it pretty well narrowed down. Did it come out of Iowa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonlight Gecko Posted October 7, 2019 Share #8 Posted October 7, 2019 Very nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWII_GI Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share #9 Posted October 7, 2019 I would check the 8's for posterity too, but I think you have it pretty well narrowed down. Did it come out of Iowa? I was thinking about that, will check into it. It came from a seller in North Carolina, said he has had it for years but didn't know anything about it. Thanks! -Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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