I'm planning on doing the 26th ID because they were a local division during WW2. I live in the New England area, and the 26th ID pulled recruits from the same area I live in now. The local 26th ID reenactment group to me is the one with a ton of controversial things associated with them, so I might go with an airborne unit or a smaller unit near me. (20-30 miles)

The Dutch! It was based in the Netherlands, and they really try hard to repossess all of these it seems. This one on the left is German made, so it's a bit tougher to find. The US made FIS is much more common, but still goes high too. The one without the crown from the FDS days can really get silly. The TFS one in the pic is fairly easy to find as well, but this one has Velcro which makes it better in the eyes of some collectors.   Randy

Oh Hi phantom, I didn't know you were on here. It's Cap.

The helmet, just as a note because I’m personally pretty picky about it. I would look at what unit you plan to portray, because each unit had a different way, size, shape, different amount if panels, etc. plus there are specific ww2 looking panels that you can do. A 2 panel is ally a good all around if you want to do generic. On your it looks kinda funky, the cross looks a bit small for ETO and reminds me of a KW ear med helmet. Here’s one I did with a ww2 style 2 panel for reference. There are tons of different styles so do your due diligence.

Possibly for 11th Airborne Division or 8th Airborne Division jump school in Germany - see this thread. https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/30431-airborne-school-patch/    

. DUKW ( Duck ) rebuild    Local French friend completed his nut and bolt ground-up restoration of his DUKW the week before D-Day week , a couple of shots here of him having an evening on a local river with friends and family   The third shot shows one of our group convoy's when we floated eight DUKW's and two amphibious Jeeps on the Seine in the centre of Paris.  A short story of that event was when some official arrived and prevented the DUKW's being floated on the river without the official paperwork required for ' piloting boats '.   Things became a little tense as obviously all the DUKW's were English owned and didn't have the relevant French ' piloting ' paperwork.   While the official was onboard one of the DUKW's with one of the owners Michael S who was a wealthy ex public-schoolboy capable of translating the French requirements the official realised only when it was too late that Michael S had decided having driven it all the way from London he was intent on sailing it on the Seine.  He then launched it full throttle off the concrete walkway two feet above the water to an almighty splash onto the water at which the official decided that the owners were all mad and abandoned trying to enforce the requirements.          Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 25  2O25.    ….

Would anyone who has a copy of any of these please be willing to share PDF files and photos of your INVADE MECUM booklets? I am hoping to have them reprinted for WWII re-enactors and the Living History community.  They will have a subtle mark to ensure they cannot be passed off as originals. Please visit the MISS DROP 44 website to see the sorts of things currently offered. 

Very neat helmet!

I believe this helmet or one with similar markings was discussed before on the forum, I can't find the thread though.

Eric Was a great genuine class act person who always had time for me. His knowledge in WWI USMC was second to none. Very sad loss for the militaria community. R.I.P you will be sorely missed.