I'm not very big on collecting U.S. WW2 items, but I do have a few pieces in my collection. Id say 75% of my U.S. WW2 collection came from my grandfather that served in WW2. Ever since he passed ive been finding some pieces he brought back here, and there.
In all honesty it does sicken me when I think about his war trophies. He brought back some really cool stuff, but over the years my other family members have had a negative effect on those items. Here are three examples. #1- My uncle sold my grandfathers bring back EK1 for $10 at school in the 70s. #2- My other uncle sold my grandfathers M1-carbine to a pawnshop in the 80s. #3- My grandmother donated the two copies of mein kampf he brought back from the war to a half price books by accident. I wish I was around when these terrible events took place so I could have preserved my grandfathers legacy, and kept those items in the family. Well today I want to show you one of the few pieces I have that (SEMI) survived the wrath of my family.
Here is my grandfathers M1 helmet. I uncovered it while digging around in his garage sometime after he passed in 2009. I was so exited when I found the helmet, because at that time it was the only piece I had from his WW2 days. Almost immediately after finding it my mind began to wonder. Why is this helmet in such bad shape? As far as I knew he drove a troop transport for the big red one, and he never saw combat. All of the webbing is missing from the liner, and it looks like it has impact damage on some spots. Well about two years later I received an answer to this question. One of my cousins stopped by for a visit, and he spotted the helmet sitting on a shelf in my room. He picked up the helmet, and started to laugh. I asked him what was so funny, and this is what he told me. (Strap in for this one guys!) "Me and my brother were bored one day, so we filled this helmet with gasoline, lit it on fire, and kicked it around the backyard" He then proceeded to tell me "Grandpa was so angry when he found us kicking it around" "He put out the fire real quick, and threw the helmet in the garage"
At that moment I wanted to say some choice words to my cousin, but instead I contained myself. The icing on the cake was when he told me the helmet was pretty much in mint condition before they got hold of it Although its seen better days, this helmet is still very special to me. Its one of the few pieces I have that belonged to my grandfather, and it will be proudly displayed with the rest of my collection.
Best regards- Jarret
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