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Just for fun. My first helmet
Not sure what other folks stories are regarding their first helmet, but just for fun, here is mine. I'd mentioned seeing a couple of helmets that were brought home by relatives that served in the ETO. Not mine however. My first was a WW1 M16 helmet.
My parents grew up in a small South Dakota town. about 100 people with lots of farms around the town. My parents were literally the boy and girl next door. But I digress. My mom's little brother happened to be exploring the dump just on the edge of town as a kid, and found the helmet there. This would have been late 1950s.
Later on, I came across it in his basement when I was a kid. Slowly but surely as he realized I was a history nut, I was able to convince him to let me have it. This would have been the late 1960s early 70s. The helmet had no liner and had some rust on it, but overall in good shape. Not having a clue about the 'rules' on these things, I sanded off the rust and sprayed the outside dark gray with spray paint my Dad had. Don't condemn me, I was a kid 🙂 In the years that followed it saw lots of 'combat' when we played army. It then sat on my shelf as it was a prized possession.
As I got older, I did some digging into the WW1 vets of that small town. As in most small towns, you can find lots of memories of WW1, more so than WW2. My mom used to talk about the man who'd survived being gassed, but whose breathing was never the same. There was a memorial plaque in the small church. The little Legion Hall, had a rack of Springfield 03s, that were used for funerals or parades. I found more than once when looking through the local barns, moth eaten uniforms and ruined beyond hope gas masks and bags.
At my great aunt's home I found a copy of the local county history book on the boys who fought in the World War. I was able to narrow down the town guys who actually went overseas and fought. Turned out there were 15. Two died of influenza overseas and didn't come home. Two came home wounded, the eleven others all saw combat and returned home.
So my helmet has some sort of provenance as the odds of someone coming to that small down to dump stuff in that little down the hill dump is about slim to none. That means while I messed it up, I have kept it 'alive' as a representative of those little town guys who fought in the Great War.
I have since added a repro liner and painted it with was is described as the correct WW1 color. The inside color is a darker gray that is the original paint, as I hadn't sprayed the inside. Money value means nothing. History value is priceless for the men and their stories from that little town that is part of my family history. Image of the helmet and that book that shows their photos and tells their stories that was published not long after that war to make sure that "Their gallant and heroic deeds, and those of their companions in arms, may be preserved for all time."
Don't you just love history? 🙂
Hope my babbling isn't bugging too many of you.
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I'm sure all of us who had this passion and access to militaria as a kid, did things that are now considered stupid. You also have to remember that the 60's were only 20 years after the war so this stuff was not rare (well yours is a WW1 shell...so not really true)
My first German helmet was purchased in the 70's from Unique Imports. So basically an M35 Norwegian re-issue, then repainted to Apple Green and Heer decals slapped on. Still have it to this day. Played "war" for many many hours with that helmet as a kid. Still have it too!
always nice to read how people come into contact with the world wars and how it drives them to know more about it or own a piece of history related to it.
I grew up in a house filled with the stuff , my dad stored his helmets in my bedroom , on top of the closets. All my friends found that fascinating.
He had a room full of wireless transmitters of WW2 that he restored to working order. He had a stock of over 300 tubes. Buttons , anything you can imagine.
Later he started on a Willy's jeep restoration and then bought 2 Dodge's as his next project. But he never got there.
For me being around militaria was just part of my environment , I did not have any detailed interest in anything. I did read about WW2 a lot but was equally drawn in by the American civil war.