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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WW11, KOREAN WAR< VIETNAM HELMETS AND LINERS


sharpsshooter
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How can you tell the difference between a WW2, KOREAN WAR, & a VIETNAM WAR helmet and liner? How can you tell the difference between a sand/painted and cork/painted helmet? I have 8 helmets. #1 A front seam fixed bail with a 8 E heat # ( no liner ), #2 A complete set with DEATH CARD, rear seam swivel bail with a 4051heat #, a light green painted liner with slide in suspension, 73 dated cover ( marked with black marker 12 stars and NIGHT DROP ) band marked with black marker RAIL 760201, chinstrap buckle has a small + sign, #3 A complete set rear seam swivel bail with 1-9065 heat #, dark green painted liner with molded US 16 in centet, dated 21 JUNE 1965? suspension, 67 dated sweatband, the chinstrap is marked with a backwards P at the bail clasp. #4 A rear seam swivel bail with no heat #, light green painted Westinghouse CAPAC liner dated 1952, the cover has CONTRACT NO 7219/ ( 7057 in red ink ), FSN-8415-261-6833, the leather chinstrap has light green buckle and rivit marked SCOVILL. #5 A complet set rear seam swivel bail with no heat #, light green painted liner with a M 1 ? in center & slide in suspension , 73 dated cover, unmarked repro chinstrap? #6 A complete set rear seam swivel bail with no heat #, 74 ( FEB 1975 ) dated light green painted liner, 74 dated slide in suspension,78? dated sweatband, 73 dated nape strap, chinstrap buckle marked with a P . #7 A rear seam swivel bail with U-SCH 71 in yellow paint at rear of helmet, light green plastic DUTCH liner, the woodland cover has velcro tabs to secure to the liner, green cotton canvas chinstrap. #8 A M-4 Kevelar with 87 in center and 83? dated cover with velcro tabs. Any help would be appreciated

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Captainofthe7th

WWII Helmets - Most generally a front seam, they have fixed and swivel loops. Chinstraps are sewn on, OD3 or OD7 fabric. The liner will always have khaki webbing.

 

Korean War helmets - Front or rear seam, usually swivel loops. All Korea helmets were left over or reissue from WWII. They DID NOT use the clip on chinstraps in Korea. (Honestly I do not know who came up with that theory, I've never seen it done nor has anyone else I know...it was a 1951 modification and it never saw front line action.) Most of these lids have a repaint, which is usually fairly thick and sometimes glossy. It is a different shade of green (more brown?) than most WWII helmets that varied from green apple to dark OD. The liner will either be of WWII manufacture or one of the 1951 or 52 dated CAPAC or McCarta liners with green HBT webbing.

 

Vietnam - Generally sand finish, low domed, rear seam clip on strap helmets. Sand finish is much finer than cork finish, you can really tell the difference without much instruction. The chinstraps are the "clip-on" variety, either green or black hardware. The liners in Nam helmets vary from WWII reissue, the early 50s type with HBT webbing, the late 1958 model with cotton duck webbing and no eyelet on the front (though the same construction as a WWII liner) OR the most standard seen vietnam liner...I do not know the model number but it is the type with criss-cross webbing and the strange nape strap. Most liners made of green fiberglass are not vietnam era. Generally, anything pre 1970 is a good candidate for Vietnam usage.

 

Remember, the most important thing is that the date on something is not always when it was used, and gear is reissued. The Army used WWII helmets into the 80s! Just because something is dated 1944 DOES NOT mean it was definitely used in 1944. (Take the 44 pack for example...it hardly saw any action in WWII).

 

I hope this helps...

 

Rob

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How can you tell the difference between a WW2, KOREAN WAR, & a VIETNAM WAR helmet and liner? How can you tell the difference between a sand/painted and cork/painted helmet? I have 8 helmets. #1 A front seam fixed bail with a 8 E heat # ( no liner ), #2 A complete set with DEATH CARD, rear seam swivel bail with a 4051heat #, a light green painted liner with slide in suspension, 73 dated cover ( marked with black marker 12 stars and NIGHT DROP ) band marked with black marker RAIL 760201, chinstrap buckle has a small + sign, #3 A complete set rear seam swivel bail with 1-9065 heat #, dark green painted liner with molded US 16 in centet, dated 21 JUNE 1965? suspension, 67 dated sweatband, the chinstrap is marked with a backwards P at the bail clasp. #4 A rear seam swivel bail with no heat #, light green painted Westinghouse CAPAC liner dated 1952, the cover has CONTRACT NO 7219/ ( 7057 in red ink ), FSN-8415-261-6833, the leather chinstrap has light green buckle and rivit marked SCOVILL. #5 A complet set rear seam swivel bail with no heat #, light green painted liner with a M 1 ? in center & slide in suspension , 73 dated cover, unmarked repro chinstrap? #6 A complete set rear seam swivel bail with no heat #, 74 ( FEB 1975 ) dated light green painted liner, 74 dated slide in suspension,78? dated sweatband, 73 dated nape strap, chinstrap buckle marked with a P . #7 A rear seam swivel bail with U-SCH 71 in yellow paint at rear of helmet, light green plastic DUTCH liner, the woodland cover has velcro tabs to secure to the liner, green cotton canvas chinstrap. #8 A M-4 Kevelar with 87 in center and 83? dated cover with velcro tabs. Any help would be appreciated

 

 

In addition to the message someone sent you...

 

WW2 liners were made by several different companies. Of these, only 2 made post-ww2 liners. These were Capac and Westinghouse. I read someone stating one made the liner, the other put the suspensions. In any event, these post-war liners were stamped by both companies. So you can see the Capac logo, word CAPAC horizontal and vertical inside a cross, the Westinghouse logo, a W with an oval under it, and sometimes the word Micarta on the same liner. I have seen photos of a post-ww2 liner with the number 51 stradling the top arm of the cross and 52 the bottom part. I imagine the '68 liners were also made together by Capac and Westinghouse.

 

Your description makes reference to at least 1 post-ww2 liner! :thumbsup:

 

Take care,

 

Luis Ramos

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Ah, nice synopsis Rob - thanks. I didn't know the clip-on straps were post-KW. I learned my new thing for the day. :thumbsup:

 

I want to make sure I'm on the same page with the KW helmets, a helmet MANUFACTURED in 1951-1954 would have had the clip on straps, correct? I understand that piles of surplus WWII helmets were available for front line dute in Korea, but newly manufactured helmets would have had the green clips. Am I correct?

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I want to make sure I'm on the same page with the KW helmets, a helmet MANUFACTURED in 1951-1954 would have had the clip on straps, correct? I understand that piles of surplus WWII helmets were available for front line dute in Korea, but newly manufactured helmets would have had the green clips. Am I correct?

 

hello,

 

I have a KOREAN WAR era M1 with original green painted clamp on chin straps and the son of the veteran told me his father was issued this helmet when he was stationed at ABERDEEN PROVING GROUNDS in 1952 - 1955 near Aberdeen, Maryland.

 

so possibly the newer helmets with clamp on hardware were mostly used state side during the KW?

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Captainofthe7th

Yes, that's correct BOLO and Wildcat. the fact that he was at the Aberdeen Proving grounds until '55 leaves enough time for him to be issued one of these early 50s production helmets. However, IN Korea during the war, there were enough surplus WWII helmets to go around...I believe soldiers had to turn in their helmets before going home. So, when a replacement came in, he got the old guys helmet. I know the Marines did this in Vietnam...one vet I talked to said they picked through a pile of helmets to wear, many of them with holes in them already.

 

Rob

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  • 6 years later...

I found this photo of a French soldier at the Battle of DIEN BIEN PHU in 1954 wearing a M1 helmet with the metal clamps

 

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. March 13, 1954 – May 7, 1954

post-1885-0-33582600-1446855216.jpg

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Wasn't there a topic that showed stills or actual footage of GIs with burlap covers, flak jackets in the trenches in 53 where the OD clip on's were spotted? I think worn by a least one GI.

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