Helmet of Joe V. Cummings

[Nickman983]

Got this one recently after doing some research on the name/serial number on the inside and think I've got the ID narrowed down.

 

The helmet is post WWII production and has had its finish scraped off and repainted. On the front is painted a set of captains bars, the texturing underneath the captains bars also remains, so I'm thinking there may be another set of bars that was painted over when the helmet was repainted. Inside the shell the name "Joe V. Cummings" is painted along with an officer's serial number "O1635744"

 

The liner is a WWII Firestone, the sweatband is a bit rough but the rest of the webbing is in good condition. It's got initials "GPS" on the nape webbing and a very faint name stamp on the front that's impossible to make out. Due to the lack of matching rust staining on the liner and no evidence of Mr. Cummings name or serial number on it I'm assuming the liner was either added to the helmet at some point or if they are original to each other, they were stored separately.

 

I believe I have this identified to a Joseph Veach Cummings of Austin Texas. Mr. Cummings started out in the National Guard as part of the 124th Cavalry, 36th ID in 1940. He then applied to and graduated from OCS and was transferred to the Signal Corp as part of the 3138th Signal Motor Messenger Company. Mr. Cummings landed in Normandy with the 3138th around late July or early August of 1944. He served in the ETO for the remainder of the war and participated in campaigns in northern France, the Ardennes, Rhinelands, and Central Europe before returning home as a 1st Lt.

 

It looks like he may have been discharged after returning home and then decided to re-enlist in Jan. of 1946.

 

Between 1946 and 1954 I haven't been able to find anything definitive. His obituary mentions him being in Korea with the 101st between 1954 and 1955 but I don't believe the 101st ever went overseas in the 50s. In either case by 1954 Mr. Cummings was a Captain and serving with the 506th Airborne Battle Group, 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell.

 

By 1960 Mr. Cummings retired but appears to have remained with the reserves.

 

[Nickman983]

I believe the ID is fairly solid but with the records I have available it's hard to be 100% certain. Here's how I was able to piece it together. I found his officer serial number in the 1961 army registrar listed as a Major who retired on 09/30/1960 who was still in the reserves. He still shows up with this until at least 1969 but that's as far as fold3 goes in terms of registrars.

 

 

After that I searched for death records, I found a record on Ancestry from the BIRLS Death Files  for a Joseph V Cummings born 28 Apr 1918 and died 25 Sep 1986. This records him being in the army between 12 Sep 1942 and 31 Dec 1945.

 

From there I ran a newspaper search for a Major Joe V Cummings and was only able to find one mention, an obituary from 1986

 

 

Joe Veach cummings appears in the Army Registrars between 1955 and 1960 (published jan 1st 1960) and then disappears in 1961, when Maj. Joe V. Cummings record appears.

1955, there's a misspelling of his middle name this year, every other year between 1956-1960 shows him as Joe Veach Cummings.

 

1960

 

Interestingly it has him with a RW serial number and a WO/CWO rank. I believe the RW prefix denotes warrant officers granted reserve commissioned officer billets.

 

I also found a newspaper article from 1954 from his father's obituary and another from his daughters obituary in 1957 that reference him as a captain.

 

Then there's this article that mentions him retiring as a captain. This article was published Sunday, 10/2/1960. This lines up with the retire date listed in the army registrar of 9/30/1960. I presume he either got a promotion after retiring from active duty or the article got his rank wrong.

 

I then found this article about Mr. Cummings and his cousin from Oct. 1945

 

There's also an enlistment record for a Joe V. Cummings on 1/17/1946. The ancestry version of this record lists his rank as Master Sergeant. The Fold3 version of this record list his birth date of 28th April 1918. Joe V Cummings in WWII Army Enlistment Records - Fold3.pdf

 

Based on all of this I'm fairly confident I have the right guy but I'd love to hear what others think!