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187th Rakkasans LTC Helmet


thunderbolts45
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thunderbolts45

This is an airborne helmet and liner that I picked up on ebay that belonged to a LTC with the Rakkasans. The liner has a rank on the front with decals of the 187th DUI on both sides. Inside the shell is a name penciled in "COL. BULL". The only Lt. Col. Bull from the 187th I could find is Kenneth R. Bull who served as the Deputy Group Commander for the division from 59 - 60. Kenneth Bull later served as a secretary on the Army's Science Panel. Cant find much else on him though; still not 100% sure if this is actually his helmet or perhaps from another person with the same last name. Still a neat piece of airborne history.

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thunderbolts45

According to Army Research And Development Vol. 4 No. 1, Lt Col Bull served as the senior military advisor for 4th military region, MAAG, Laos. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit. I still can't find any info about when he enlisted in the army.

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Thats a beauty, i will look in the 187th reunion books to see if hes in there with more info,i have a few 187th helmets from that same era that have the same heavy sand "moss" camo...great helmet...mike

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That's pretty neat, is the hole in the front of the shell centered so that he could wear his rank on the outside also? I hope it can be confirmed as his.

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thunderbolts45

Well, I have an update on my research. This helmet did in fact belong to Kenneth R. Bull, confirmed by this auction from his estate earlier this year which included this helmet.

 

 

https://auctions.blackwellauctions.com/lots/view/1-1LND0S/101st-airborne-div-colonels-shirt-helmets

 

The problem is that the original liner that was in this shell was removed. The one that is currently in it was from Bull's estate but from the pictures I can see that it had a name painted around the rim which someone has removed. I have no idea why someone would remove the original name from this liner and remove the LTC rank from the shell. It looks like the name that was in the liner was "Ronnie E. Hogbin" followed by his service number.

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