California, once again you are a treasure chest of research sites and suggestions. My profound thanks and appreciation. I will let you know if, or when, the book is published.   Charles

Hi all! Some of my pick ups as of late.   Small group to a 104th ID 415th IR medic, some nice helmet shots among the photos.          Next group was an eBay find but seller was nice enough to let me come pick it up. Sauk Village, IL Vietnam vet William Vollriede passed earlier this year. The sellers husband got this as he cleans out houses. Unfortunately haven’t been able to find a unit yet.

Thanks! The helmet is a centerpiece of my collection!   Interesting that the veteran was Jewish (H=Hebrew). and the SS-TK guys were the "bad guy's bad guys" when it came to the Holocaust.

IIRC, this example was made by Rex Products. They went from an enameled purple center to a purple painted on copper insert before transitioning to the plastic heart inserts that we see today. This example is painted on copper.   Allan

And Lt. Steve Brannen’s (Navy) has graffiti

Wow! "House of Swords" was infamous back in the day for questionable and outright fantasy pieces. It looks like the eBay store seller picked an appropriate name!    Allan

Very interesting! I have to check out that book for myself, sounds like a great read!

I picked this up last week. I’m not even a Navy guy!

Thanks for the reply! You bring up a good point about hot weather caps, boonie hats, and berets. Soldiers and marines who would've displayed their helmet graffiti openly out in the field wouldn't have worn their helmets when resting in the rear, where they could get reprimanded for not adhering to regulations.   I too figured officers would've refrained from graffitiing their helmets, but apparently there were some who did graffiti their helmets. Lt. Richard Holt's helmet is a great example of a graffitiied officer's helmet.

Thanks very much for the information. I can’t find that other topic. Gonna have to dig a little deeper. Thanks again.