Vietnam Special Forces AB Helmet?

[fight]

Here's one I found a little while back. When I got it there was no ID to it but I just liked the look of it. A quick google search of SGM Dobridnia brought up a Leon F Dobridnia who was a Command Sergeant Major with the US Army Reserve Special Forces during Vietnam and also a WWII and Korea Army Vet. That'd be a pretty neat connection but I couldn't confirm it for certain. It did mention his wife (Rita) and I've had some success searching wives to find more info about the vet, but no luck this time. 

 

The helmet was fairly well marked so I thought there might be some more potential info under the Mitchell cover but I was hesitant because it looked like it had been there for a very long time. I decided to very carefully remove the cover because my curiosity wasn't going to go away. Each time I lifted a part of the cover up it seemed to show something more, first the stenciled last name under the front brim, then the same stencil on the rear of the helmet. Then when I got to removing the cover I found the last piece of the puzzle for the ID, a little writing "If found intact send to - Mrs Rita A Dobridnia 13 Fort Hill Rd Bristol RI 02809 C.O.D." (Cash On Delivery). Bingo! I had fun with this one.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

- Alec

[sgtdorango]

Wow!

[patches]

Too bad they don't go into the units he was with in WWII and the Korean War. Not seeing a CIB above his jump wings, so he was of another branch.

[fight]

9 hours ago, patches said:

Too bad they don't go into the units he was with in WWII and the Korean War. Not seeing a CIB above his jump wings, so he was of another branch.

 

 

Yes I'm interested in finding out more about him. I have some family contact info and am planning on reaching out to see what I find!

 

- Alec

[riflegreen297]

Nice, helmet.  I assume the SGM is of Russian heritage as his name sounded out phonetically means "Good Day" in Russian. You might also want to reach out to SFA Chapter 48 that covers Rhode Island. http://48sfa.org/

 

 

[e19]

13 hours ago, patches said:

His beret flash appears to be 11th Group, USAR.

[fight]

5 hours ago, riflegreen297 said:

Nice, helmet.  I assume the SGM is of Russian heritage as his name sounded out phonetically means "Good Day" in Russian. You might also want to reach out to SFA Chapter 48 that covers Rhode Island. http://48sfa.org/

 

 

 

3 hours ago, e19 said:

His beret flash appears to be 11th Group, USAR.

 

 

Thank you both! The info will help with the research. I will reach out the the SFA chapter.

 

- Alec

[dmar836]

Pretty cool.

Are you sending it back?😉

Dave

[e19]

SGM Leon Dobrignia (spelling error)(1920-2017) was a member of Chapter 54 of the SFA in Massachusetts.

 

 

http://www.sfob54.org/deceased-members.html

http://www.sfob54.org/index.html

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/providence/name/leon-dobridnia-obituary?pid=185862520

[fight]

3 hours ago, e19 said:

SGM Leon Dobrignia (spelling error)(1920-2017) was a member of Chapter 54 of the SFA in Massachusetts.

 

 

http://www.sfob54.org/deceased-members.html

http://www.sfob54.org/index.html

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/providence/name/leon-dobridnia-obituary?pid=185862520

 

Thank you! I will reach out.

 

- Alec

[riflegreen297]

I was hoping his OBIT from the Fall 2017 THE DROP maybe had some more info, But nothing new. Here it is for posterity.