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Opinions on "Graffitied" Vietnam M1 Helmet


AnDuc49
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Hello all,

Was fortunate enough to pick this up a few weeks ago off of eBay as my first purchase in several months.

In this case, rather than writing on the cover (while he has written his name), there's a large amount of "writing" that has been scratched in the liner. While in the past I've seen photos of soldiers, Marines, etc. writing and drawing on their liner in Vietnam, it seemed to have been seldom done. Has anyone seen anything like this before? While the cover and shell are relatively clean, I believe the liner is matching to the shell.

Would be curious to see if there are any other similar examples out and about as well as any opinions.

post-154926-0-78937100-1577731742_thumb.jpg

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The condition of the set overall really doesnt match. The cover is pretty clean along with the shell, while the liner is heavily broken in. I cant comment on the graffiti on the liner. Its pretty crude and hard to make out. Definitely an odd liner though.

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The condition of the set overall really doesnt match. The cover is pretty clean along with the shell, while the liner is heavily broken in. I cant comment on the graffiti on the liner. Its pretty crude and hard to make out. Definitely an odd liner though.

 

The condition of the liner compared to the rest of the helmet threw me off initially as well in the beginning, but what led me to believe it's a matched set is the fact that while "Lester Foley" is written on the cover, "Ken Foley" is scratched onto the liner (perhaps a nickname or a relative?). I thought maybe if the theory about the liner being used by a kid as a toy (based off the string tied in the liner), it might explain why it's dirtier than the helmet.

 

 

Id be curious to see if any of those names connect to a unit as well

 

I've skimmed over some of the names, but no luck so far. A lot of it is quite hard to read due to all of the cracking in the paint and just overall how dirty the liner is

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the name Lester Foley on the camo cover looks like something from the Vietnam War era by the style of the writing, maybe Ken Foley was the son of Lester Foley? and judging by the wear , it looks like it was used as a play helmet and they tried to fix it with an old piece of white elastic band.

 

notice the name "BOB MANN 55" this shows this liner was probably used by other people, probably marked back in 1955, the liner seems to have a long history, possibly an old fire watch / guard helmet from the barracks

 

the liner doesnt look like something the soldier would have used in the field because of the old white, red, yellow paint, could be from a navy ship?

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