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Damaged M1 Rear Seam Steel Only. No Liner. No story. Just the helmet.


The Rooster
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The Rooster

Greetings to all. I thought that I'd post this helmet thats been damaged.

I dont know anything about it. It has no story other than what your mind might conjure.

But.... I like it so I picked it up. Its interesting.

Enjoy !

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The Rooster

Its a low dome I think. Its got the sand finish.

The really cool thing is........ I found a name under the rust in black marker.

 I think, it's a Vietnam era helmet???? Or maybe Korea ?

The white you see on the blasted metal edges is from me

rolling the thing upside down on the plastic table. It wiped right off.

 

The name is......

 

KIYEPA

 

 

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The Rooster

This one has a plausible name now that Member AZNATION suggested I try and take down the rust to see the name better.

I did that using Whink rust remover and ..........

The name painted on the helmet is RIVERA.

The top of the R has been rusted off and there is a paint run on the V making it look like a Y.

So possibly an officer named RIVERA ???

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manayunkman

A very interesting pot.

 

Hope you can figure out who it belonged to.

 

When did the Army drop the, follow me, bar?

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The Rooster

Im not sure. But I think it was still around in Korea.

The name might be Riyera to... Because the V does look like a purposely made Y instead of a paint run.

Hard to tell. ??? But its definately not Kiyepa !!! lol

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The Rooster

Im leaning towards Rivera and the Top of the R was rusted away.

I noticed something else about this helmet. Someting that makes me believe that this is an actual combat

damaged M1 unfortunately for the Man who wore it.

In the following pics (You can see it in some of the preceding pics)

there is a definate Ghost Image of the helmet chinstrap wrapped around the back of the helmet.

The only thing I can think of that would make such a stain would be that the Man was shot and fell on his right side and layed there for quite some time and the blood leaked down onto the cloth chinstrap end over the loop and absorbed and soaked the chin strap on the right side with blodd. And it stained the paint. ?? All conjecture all speculation but notice in the pics as you go around to the left side. The stain or ghost image of the strap stops right where the buckle would have been attaching it to the short side on the left side of the helmet. The blood could not get past the buckle to absorb into the short strap thus no stain.

At some point much latter both straps were cut off... But the stain of the blood remained.???

I think... dont know but...I think a lot of the rust is actually caused by blood.

The stain starts directly over the loop on the right side and its kinda hard to see in this pic but you can even see the curve where the strap curved up from the loop onto the helmet right where the stain strats over the loop. Notice the curve. Its a ghost image of the right side chinstrap.

AZNATION kindly has done some searching and has found a Korean War KIA Officer named RIVERA. Not sure if its possible to find out what that particular officer died of ?

Scroll up at look at some of the other pics of this area of the helmet. Strange smell comes off it when I got the inside wet. It didnt smell like the whink either.... was metallic with a slight funk to it.

Blood might cause a stain like that.. If it was rust from moisture... Why is it not on both sides?

And the staining inside.........

 

 

 

What do you folks think?

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The Rooster

Here is the Man that Matt found. Dont know if there is a way to find out what he died of?

 

 

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Is it just me, or does the position of the damage and the trajectory of the bullet seem too high to have been fatal?

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The Rooster
40 minutes ago, trenchfoot said:

Is it just me, or does the position of the damage and the trajectory of the bullet seem too high to have been fatal?

It would all depend on how tight or loose the webbing in the liner was and how he was wearing it. Tilted down or back. etc etc.

But it seems like it had a good chance of plowing through the top of the skull on its way out depending on everything i just mentioned.

And ultimatey it may take a gamble on a golden arrow search of Lt Rivera to see where he was hit.

I have the papers on my uncle who was killed and there was a medical autopsy report in it.

Even then it wont be proof positive that this is his helmet but it will be powerful circumstantial evidence

if by chance Lt Rivera died of a head wound.

What do you think caused the ghost of the chinstrap on the side?

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I’m enjoying this thread. I would guess the ghosting is from the chinstrap rotten away on the helmet, just a guess.

 

marty

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The Rooster

No I cant make it out.

If the chinstrap rotted off and left that mark, why didnt it leave a mark on the left side  for the short strap also ?

Its just on the right side long strap and it ends where the buckle would be.

If it was just moisture or rot why would the stain be missing from the left side?

It prob did eventually rot off....... But Im thinking the right side strap was soaked with blood.

And thats why theres a ghost of it on the metal. ???

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The Rooster
17 minutes ago, trenchfoot said:

Fair enough. Can you make out the heat stamp?

On second look the liner crown string would have to be way let out as the strike is close to the top.

Maybe it could kill you from concussion or shock if it didnt penetrate the skull ?

Or a hunk of metal could have penetrated the brain? Or maybe he was left and died of shock?

It does look like you said

"Is it just me, or does the position of the damage and the trajectory of the bullet seem too high to have been fatal?"

I dont know and being idle here at home, my brain could run on with this for hours. I'l stop!!! lol

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The Rooster

If this helmet was being worn by someone when it was shot, one thing is for sure.......

If it didnt kill him, it sure messed up his day. Glad to be alive but Man !!!

 

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ArchangelDM

Bullets and shrapnel don’t always travel straight, on entry many things are there to bounce around on. 
 

bullet entered,  hit something bounced down up and out through the top of the skull. 
 

With the fact You have the guys name, a follow me stripe and a KIA, for me all roads are leading to Rome on this one. 
 

I would say this was his, it’s a sobering helmet and a great find 

 

thanks for the thread Dave 

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To me it looks like the helmet was stacked in with other helmets and that is why you have the different rates of corrosion on different areas of the helmet. The lower rear edge looks like it was exposed to the elements while being in a stack of helmets. Just my opinion.

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ArchangelDM
27 minutes ago, hink441 said:

To me it looks like the helmet was stacked in with other helmets and that is why you have the different rates of corrosion on different areas of the helmet. The lower rear edge looks like it was exposed to the elements while being in a stack of helmets. Just my opinion.


Stacking theory  is plausible, as the helmet if this soldier was KIA would have been taken and disposed off with other damaged helmets, stacked even. 
 


 

 

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Yeah, I wonder about all this speculation. Such damage would have been very common, M-1s were not rare, and the necessity to have them out of the way paramount. They weren't collected by a best fiend or sent to family or anything morbid like that. They were likely plowed under and destroyed post-haste. This doesn't really look like a dug helmet. I think pot shots at abandoned helmets during war and even after is a more likely scenario. I suspect about any chemical could cause corrosion - not just blood. Could you have it DNA tested? That staining actually looks to me more like it sat too close to a furnace for a long while.

It's fun to try to sharpen Ocam's razor but...

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