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Original Vietnam Graffiti Helmets


DiGilio
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Was anyone else watching the legit cover that was on ebay? I was super supprised at the ending price. Over $575! I understand this cover is comming from a vet with proof its real and has a patch on it that is most likely the last one left in the world but almost $600 still seems crazy to me.

 

I wouldnt be supprised if we see that patch in the future sold separate from the cover......

 

I was thinking about starting a thread for all graffitied VN covers as sort of a refference. For posting all the legit ones that come around and original pictures for reference along with some fakes and how to tell them apart. Does anyone think this sounds like a good idea?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...utorefresh=true

 

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I think you have already started the thread right here. If you want, I can modify the title so that more people post on here. Just post a reply here.

 

These are neat. These seem to be the one item everyone wants but cannot find. I had not seen one with a patch before, and the SHORT is just so blatant it is funny.

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I bid on that lid but was outbid at $259 which I thought was high end. It's a great looking lid with the photograph, awesome incountry patch and the details it was too good to miss. The price was more than I would pay but I really believe this one matched up and someone, unfortunately not me, got a great helmet with a heck of a lot of documentation.

 

Every now and then one like that will pop up but certainly not with any degree of regularity. Given the final price I wont be suprised to see a few more suddenly come out of the wood work.

:thumbsup:

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I bid that to within 10 dollars and would have gone higher but lost my bloody connection. IF the new owner Is a member here and they ever want to sell It PM me, I will still give you a good profit.

 

In my opinion this was the finest example I have ever seen and well worth the money, It really belongs In the New York Museum of Art. You can laugh at me but what you have here Is the most Iconic piece of American Folk Art from a terribly turbulent time In your nations history! How many of these turn up this nicely Graffiti'd, with a rare patch AND most Importantly, period photographic provenance! I'm seriously pissed off I missed It to the point of replacing my clunky old PC so It doesn't happen again.

 

To use a terribly overused and hackneyed expression this piece truly was awesome.

 

Yours, Guy.

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I think you have already started the thread right here. If you want, I can modify the title so that more people post on here. Just post a reply here.

 

These are neat. These seem to be the one item everyone wants but cannot find. I had not seen one with a patch before, and the SHORT is just so blatant it is funny.

 

That sounds good. I only mentioned a separate thread because of the title and everything. If you could modify it to be for all graffitied helmets that would be great!

 

I was bidding up to $200 and may have gone a little higher higher but it suddenly went to $400 and I dropped out. It is an amazing piece but I thought it was just too high. Ive been lucky and finding mine mostly for under ten times less than what this sold for. Most Ive seen a graffitied helmet go before this one was somehere around $350. Came from the vet but no photo verification mentioned and I dont remember what was on the helmet (this was years ago). Im still always looking out for graffitied covers but $600 was just too much for me. I actually talked to the seller (I bought almost all of his other items) and he was pretty supprised. If other vets see this and happened to keep their covers, we may see some others pop up for sale.

 

Anyway, Ill post my other covers here and hopefully other people will do the same. I have no history on this one. Cover is 1967 dated twill. The guys name was apparently Fred, his DEROS November 20, 1968, and was Army (due to the FTA). Original thread is here: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...ic=58986&hl

 

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This cover was used by Specialist 5 George Stoken who was with the 45th Surgical Hospital as an operating room assistant from when the hospital arrived in Vietnam in September 1966 to August 1967. His photos (which there is at least 1 or 2 more of the cover) are here: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...showtopic=63385

 

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WOW, those are absolutely Incredible,

 

the short timer callendar Is a wonderful thing to see and I'm sure high on everybodys list of must have covers but the other one, with photo provenance, Is my favourite. Thank you very much for sharing these Impressive pieces of history! This Is turning Into a fascinating thread, can't wait to see what else people show.

 

Now, I don't suppose I could prevail upon you to part with the Provenanced one for the right offer could I :w00t: .

 

 

Yours, Guy.

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Now, I don't suppose I could prevail upon you to part with the Provenanced one for the right offer could I :w00t:

 

:) I dont plan on selling it any time soon and I wouldnt break it out of the grouping. I have a bunch of Mr. Stokens stuff. Almost all of what he kept. It isnt a whole lot but enough. One think interesting about the jungle boots he brought back is one foot is a 2nd pattern and the other a 3rd pattern. It just shows that nobody back then really cared or noticed the different patterns of things.

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I don't blame you, I wouldn't let that one go either! lovely to see it though, thank you.

 

re the boots, you're absolutely right, we collectors are far too anal. At the time he just needed a pair of boots :lol: .

 

Yours, Guy.

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Nobody has anything to show :crying:

 

Heres another graffitied cover I have in my collection to keep the thread going. Was this one used in Vietnam? No way to know for sure (most likely not) but still its from the 1960s and an unusual item because of the amount and size of the writing.

 

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Captainofthe7th

Here are two I have-

 

On this one the camo pattern is traced on the green side and a LT bar is on both green and brown sides.

 

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This is dated 1971, so it might not be a true in-country used cover, but the graffiti is cool enough.

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Rob

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Nice ones. I guess we could expand this to VN period graffitied covers (up to around 1972) since VN used for sure ones will probably not get much posts.

 

Just something Ive noticed with all the actual Vietnam used covers Ive seen is that the cover is usually dated the year or year before the person arrived incountry. This wouldnt be true for covers not used in Vietnam though.

 

Heres a few more covers I have in my collection. Again most likely not Vietnam but these were used in the 1960s.

 

1962 dated cover. Nothing special except I though it was interesting someone scribbled out a decently drawn EGA. Different pen scribbled it out than drew it. Maybe an Army trooper got a hold of it. "Butch" is wirtten in 1/3" letters in pen on the other side. Dont think that needs a picture.

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Both covers are 1959 dated USMC. "Gordon Miller" one has "T.L.T." in 1/2" letters on both the other green side and on brown side. Again dont think it needs a pic. The "Perkins" one has the same stuff written on both sides on both the green and brown sides. Vietnam Veterans database lists a Walter E Perkins (only WE Perkins in the Marines listed) that went into the Marines in 1951 and left in 1973 as a Gunnery Sergeant. No service number listed. Good chance this is the same guy although I dont think its likely this cover was used during a tour there.

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I've posted these pics before. This is the cover I wore in 'Nam from Oct. 68 to Oct. 69 as a member of the 1st Cav's 1/21st Arty. I had to redo it several times because it tended to fade out. Mine is probably unique in that I listed the LZ's I was on during my tour.

 

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Here's another original cover. I believe I found this one in a local surplus store. It's marked on top "ETS 6 JAN 70".

 

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I was hopping you would post yours, Gunbunny. Super nice example and its great to see one that the original owner actually kept all these years. Thanks for posting.

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I saw a very interesting cover at a local militaria show this past weekend. The cover is the ERDL pattern and was dated 74 and manufactured by the Minneapolis Workhouse for the Blind.

 

The interesting thing was the exterior markings. It had "USMC" on oneside, "Short" on the top, an eyeball drawn on the back, and a fish in water drawn on the side opposite of the "USMC". The cover showed lots of exterior wear and the markings looked legit. They were done in some sort of ink and they were not gaudy or overly eye-catching. The date of 1974 would put this cover and its user past the point of being "short", right? I mean we were out of Vietnam and the 12 month tours of duty...was the term "short" used before or after Vietnam?

 

 

 

Kyle

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Mercenary25
I saw a very interesting cover at a local militaria show this past weekend. The cover is the ERDL pattern and was dated 74 and manufactured by the Minneapolis Workhouse for the Blind.

 

The interesting thing was the exterior markings. It had "USMC" on oneside, "Short" on the top, an eyeball drawn on the back, and a fish in water drawn on the side opposite of the "USMC". The cover showed lots of exterior wear and the markings looked legit. They were done in some sort of ink and they were not gaudy or overly eye-catching. The date of 1974 would put this cover and its user past the point of being "short", right? I mean we were out of Vietnam and the 12 month tours of duty...was the term "short" used before or after Vietnam?

Kyle

 

Wish you pick it up so you could share pictures with us. It sounds very interesting.

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Well, the dealer had three VN era helmet setups, all put-togethers. The cost was prohibitive for this one, at $50 for the cover, a beat up Korean War era shell with green painted T-1 assembly, and a '67 dated airborne liner with A-straps cut off. The cover had wear thru along the edge with rust stains and the shell showed no rust along the edge, just a very crappy repaint.

 

So, I let it slide. I do know the dealer and I'm sure I'll see it again.

 

 

 

Kyle

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I really dont know if the term "Short" was still being used years after the war, but at least in the early-mid 1970s there was still a lot of enlisted men who served in Vietnam that were still in the military. And a lot were just finishing up military commitments and not making a career out of anything. So a lot of popular terms from there were still being used.

 

It would of been great to see a picture of it. Could of just been an old reenactor helmet though.

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
I saw a very interesting cover at a local militaria show this past weekend. The cover is the ERDL pattern and was dated 74 and manufactured by the Minneapolis Workhouse for the Blind.

 

The interesting thing was the exterior markings. It had "USMC" on oneside, "Short" on the top, an eyeball drawn on the back, and a fish in water drawn on the side opposite of the "USMC". The cover showed lots of exterior wear and the markings looked legit. They were done in some sort of ink and they were not gaudy or overly eye-catching. The date of 1974 would put this cover and its user past the point of being "short", right? I mean we were out of Vietnam and the 12 month tours of duty...was the term "short" used before or after Vietnam?

Kyle

 

The Marines weren't gone from RVN until 1975. I know some guarded the US Embassy; there may have been other units; perhaps some of our USMC historians will chime in. I can say I doubt it was worn by Embassy personnel; they were always so strac.

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