As far as I have seen far now (but I could be wrong), the bayonets done for Europe had all cross guard welded. I've had an US-M4  (A.E.P Italy 1965) which has the guard welded, but the handle parts (some sort of brown plastic ) were fit just to the guard (so no loose space or something else for quick inspection). See below picture, not mine but I had a similar one.

Dear Mr. Trzaska,   Really appreciate your well documented answer, an honour for me to be in contact with someone who gained so much experience and knowledges on this particular military branch. One year ago I was a noob into the US military knives, but thanks to this forum and people like you (and many others here) who take their time to respond to any kind of ''silly questions'', I was able to learn a lot. Meantime, my small knife collection grown, and I am really grateful that I am now a small part of this brotherhood.   Keep it up! 

I'll take this opportunity here to point out to anyone newer to this hobby that welded knives and bayonets are not compliant with U.S. Government specifications. I agree with Collector2 that being able to inspect the way the parts are attached as well as other details is helpful.

Are there some other letters that you didnt show? In the posted letter he says the hole is the size of a silver dollar, but he doesnt say anything about the size of the fragment. I think it is a bullet because if you look at the actual entry point, the hole seems very regular, as you see with bullet hits, and it also seems to be the right size. The much larger hole we see further on was caused by the metal being bent back, it doesnt correspond to the size of the projectile. In any case, the projectile continued  forward, tried unsuccessfully to exit the helmet, then travelled between the shell and liner, and exited at the front of the liner. Since the projectile followed this course, it could not have caused a wound to the soldier's scalp at the area of the entry hole. These are just my observations.

Incredible find, and with the combination of laundry number and officer rank, it should be researchable. 

Here's a vet owned bring back I saw on Facebook years ago. He wore grenade rings in his helmet band.   

Here's another GI armed with the FN FAL Rifle, here while trialing the de Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle.

Thank you. These are currently listed on ebay. I thought maybe the gold color was the lighting or silver tarnish as the back is dark. Seller also has a bombadier wing that looks gold in color.

Hello. I am going to an event as a Korean War infantryman. Could I get opinions on my uniform before I go? Anything to change? It’s a M47 uniform with M48 boots. 

Cool find, looks Japanese made too