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Battle Damaged NVA Pith Helmet with Graffiti: Interesting Story!

NgDKhang

By NgDKhang,
in NVA/VC HELMETS & HEADGEAR

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NgDKhang

NgDKhang

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Some of you may have seen this helmet before. Since I first purchased it, I've always been curious about the history of the helmet. Over the course of the past few months, I and several researchers in Vietnam have been looking into it and it looks like we may have found at least a portion of the helmet's history.

 

This helmet was locally produced in Vietnam and used predominantly between 1952 to 1960. A lightweight helmet, this was sold to the civilian market and issued to "Thanh Nien Xung Phong" (TNXP) or Youth Volunteers as Chinese produced helmets were only issued to NVA soldiers. Youth Volunteers manned Truong Son Road/HCM Trail throughout the war, helping to direct traffic, house soldiers, transport supplies and maintain the trail which included the dangerous duty of clearing ordnance.

 

Based off of information written on the front brim, it is believed that this helmet probably belonged to Nguyen Quang Thong, PO Code HT 24089CK of Minh Son Commune, Do Luong District, Nghe An Province.

 

Mr. Thong was born in Hamlet 8 in Minh Son Commune in 1943. During the course of the war, he served as a nurse, eventually arriving in the B2 Battlefront which included the entirety of III and IV Corp and a portion of II Corp. Beginning in Ninh Thuan Province, it ran all the way down to the tip of South Vietnam in Ca Mau Peninsula. Serving as a nurse, he was captured in 1968 and spent the next 6 years as a POW in Phu Quoc Prison Camp. In 1974 as part of the Paris Peace Accords, he was released and settled back in his hometown. He passed away in 1979 from an illness contracted while he was a prisoner.

 

His wife, Dau Thi Huyen, now 71 years old, is still living in the same house. Tragically, as Mr. Thong died at a young age, his family retain no photographs or mementos of him.

 

On the exterior are four signatories, Nguyen Thi Vinh, Duong Thi Ly, Chinh Thi Pham (written like a foreign format. It should be Pham Thi Chinh) and the only male, Dong Van Phu. From what I've been told, the first three all came from the same Commune as Mr. Thong and served as TNXP during the war.

 

A number of people were adamant that the helmet was fake since no NVA soldier was issued this model, but luckily, a NVA vet chimed in and gave his account on how Mr. Thong may have come into possession of the helmet.

 

"This kind of helmet was the type that was issued and by the Youth Volunteers. But how did Mr. Thong gain ownership of it? To address this issue, let me tell a story.

 

At the time, almost everybody who went into the military were issued helmets exported from China. One day while on patrol near Atopo, we heard a great commotion coming from ahead of us. When we arrived, I found a number of Youth Volunteers who were returning to the North. They quickly went cleared the road and stood off to the side so we could pass through. One of the volunteers went up to me and said:

"Mister, we'll be heading back up to the North shortly. Please, give me your pith helmet so I can have something to remember my time here. I'll give you my helmet to wear instead. Once you arrive at the battlefield, you'll be issued liberation army soft covers (boonie hat) anyway. Besides, it's not practical to wear this helmet in the jungle. I'll gift you 500 grams of sugar and a container of powdered milk as well".
I quickly responded with "Ok" and traded my helmet for hers and the food without a second thought
[...]
Several days later, when we crossed the Sekong River under the cover of night, the strong current knocked the helmet off of my head and I lost it.
I do not know if the helmet above has a similar history, but I strongly believe it to be the case."

This is where things get foggy and the research is still ongoing. The main issue is the veteran who picked up the helmet wrote down the name "Nguyen Thi Vinh" and the date of capture. This would mean that she must've been in possession of the helmet when it was captured.

 

Ergo, my theory is that when he was captured, he might've not had his equipment, including his helmet with him. That meant the Vinh, whether the signer, another person with the same name or whatever the case, just kept it and used it until it was picked up.

 

The main key to finding out the truth I believe is hidden in those for signatories. If any of them are still alive, they will probably be able to verify and confirm the history behind the helmet.


My main goal in the end though is to return the helmet to the family. I've been urged to donate it to a museum there in Vietnam, but I refuse to be the one to do it, because more than likely, they'll throw a political slant onto it which is not what I intend to do.

Anyhow, I hope that you enjoyed the post. If all goes well, the helmet should be back in ownership of the family by the end of 2019. Until then, we'll just have to continue to dig.

 

 

 

post-185230-0-63312500-1540520089_thumb.jpg

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gwb123

gwb123

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I know you have been wanting to share this for a long time! Thank you for joining the World Militaria Forum. I look forward to your future posts!

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NgDKhang

NgDKhang

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I know you have been wanting to share this for a long time! Thank you for joining the World Militaria Forum. I look forward to your future posts!

 

Thank you gwb123 for your kind comment! I'm happy to be able share some items and documents that I wasn't able to share before on USMF due to the restrictions. I hope that you'll enjoy them!

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NgDKhang

NgDKhang

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Thank you all for the kind comments.

I only wish that I had more information to work with. With the limited amount we have, it's making the whole process much more difficult as the Vietnamese archives are much harder to access. I can only hope that we'll have more luck in the future

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NgDKhang

NgDKhang

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Wow. I enjoyed reading your post.

Paul

 

 

Provenance on any North VN headgear...that's gotta be more than rare.

 

 

Yeah! What an extraordinary helmet!

 

Thank you all very much!

 

I just happened to get lucky when it came to research. Also, if he had not written down his address (as it was common on early helmets), I doubt I would've been able to find him

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