iron bender Posted April 23, 2020 Share #1 Posted April 23, 2020 This helmet was brought back by a member of the 87th Mountain Infantry, James B. Chilton, from Italy in 1945. I was very pleased to acquire his Japanese and German bring backs, plus his personal items and Ike jacket. He served on Kiska, then finished the war in Italy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplecanopy Posted April 23, 2020 Share #2 Posted April 23, 2020 Very nice helmet! I had one years ago and let it slip away. Looks like yours is in good shape. Thanks for showing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted April 23, 2020 Share #3 Posted April 23, 2020 Stunning helmet.. These are so hard to obtain untampered.. Wonderful that you have the veterans provenance and other items.. Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron bender Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share #4 Posted April 24, 2020 Thanks for the replies. Interestingly, the guy I bought the lot from is an old family friend through the machine shop business. The guy that brought this helmet back mentions the nephew I bought it from in his letters from overseas. Obviously he was a baby at the time and doesn't remember any of this. They were literally gonna pitch all of his 'junk' in the garbage. Thank God they brought it to my shop to look at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SARGE Posted April 24, 2020 Share #5 Posted April 24, 2020 iron bender, Your story is exactly how some of these items get saved from the garbage heap by collectors. Good job of catching these items and snatching them from the trash man and oblivion in a landfill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryang Posted May 5, 2020 Share #6 Posted May 5, 2020 An incident from my youth still haunts me to this very day. An Army brat, we lived in Belgium in the 1970's. It was there that I developed an interest in collecting militaria. We lived near the Balgian town of Mons, and I often spent my weekly allowance at the Sunday morning flea market there. I picked up quite a few helmets relatively cheap. This one occasion, however, stays with me. I had in my hands a Fallschirmjager helmet, with liner and all of the straps. I didn't buy it, because it had been painted pink and purple. I'm guessing that someone had been using it as a motorcycle helmet, so I passed on it. This was approximately forty-five years ago. I still think about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerdragon54 Posted May 6, 2020 Share #7 Posted May 6, 2020 I live this helmet and story. Show us everything!!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniArms Posted May 28, 2020 Share #8 Posted May 28, 2020 It looks amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwiicollector1944 Posted March 25, 2023 Share #9 Posted March 25, 2023 Wanted to bump this one. Incredible helmet!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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