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1st Cav helmet


644td
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I was going to keep this helmet to myself and share with a few others but I’m sharing it because things are not always “textbook”. 
  This is a 1st Cav Occupation fixed loop helmet with a Capac repainted liner. The helmet was painted in the Philippines(1945) before the 1st Cav shipped out on “Operation Magic Carpet” to Japan for Occupation duty. 
  The helmet was given to Nurse 2nd Lt. Bernice A. Bryan by a Trooper in the Philippines due to damage to her helmet. Lt. Bryan carried the helmet with her from the Philippines to Japan. 
  The thing that is not textbook to some if not most collectors is the wide black paint on the helmet. To some that would be a concern but to me that proves inconsistencies and rush to get the helmets ready for the trip to Japan. As the months and years pasted the painting of the patch improved. 
  
marty
  

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First photo is of Lt. Bryan but the second picture is of 3 nurses and the one on the far right looks similar and was taken in the Philippines, I’m not sure if it her. One photo is prewar and the other is wartime  so a person can change some. 

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40 minutes ago, Usmc2004 said:

That’s a really good looking set Marty!

Thank you John.

 

Most Occupation helmets have a unknown date of when it was painted, etc. so most are a guessing game.

 1st Cav were on Occupation duty in Japan for 5 years so dating a helmet was again a guessing game. This one is 1945 and was there with the Troopers in the Philippines and not a replacement that landed in Japan in 46-50. 
 I do not believe stories, so I’ve been researching this helmet for the last 2 months and I know the lineage of the helmet. 

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Hello.

I saw this helmet maybe 15 years ago in Larry Stewart's shop in Mesa, AZ. I recall speaking to him about the hand-applied insignia and how clumsy it appeared.

I liked it then and I like it now. And if anyone knows Larry Stewart of Stewart's Military Antiques, they can confirm that you can bank on his word. The note he wrote on the 

tag are all the provenance you need, in my opinion. You can believe this particular story. 

Nice helmet. Really nice. I should have bought it way back then.....🥵

Jim 

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10 minutes ago, JimD said:

Hello.

I saw this helmet maybe 15 years ago in Larry Stewart's shop in Mesa, AZ. I recall speaking to him about the hand-applied insignia and how clumsy it appeared.

I liked it then and I like it now. And if anyone knows Larry Stewart of Stewart's Military Antiques, they can confirm that you can bank on his word. The note he wrote on the 

tag are all the provenance you need, in my opinion. You can believe this particular story. 

Nice helmet. Really nice. I should have bought it way back then.....🥵

Jim 

Thank you Jim, 

The application of the insignia was a turn off for me in the beginning BUT the more I studied the hemet and researched the Nurse the more I fell in love with it. It is without a doubt a hemet that can be dated to 1945 and shows either a bad painter or one that was hastily done Preparing for occupation duty.

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  • 1 month later...
Burning Hazard

Photographic evidence does show these were hand painted as each varies from helmet to helmet.

 

Some examples from occupation era

 

1st Calvary Helmet 3.JPG

1st Calvary Helmet.JPG

1st Cavalry Helmet 2.JPG

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  • 6 months later...

Lt. Bryan served with the 248th GH Luzon in the Philippines and with the 118th SH in Japan during Occupation.
She also contracted hepatitis, not sure of the details but during my research, I found out that many service members during WW2 contracted hepatitis due to the yellow fever vaccine. 

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