The new Smithsonian Museum of American History (and Helmets)

One of the many things I enjoy about living in beautiful Western Maryland is the close proximity and easy access to our nation's capital, Washington DC, and the wonderful museums of the Smithsonian Institution.

Last spring I and two friends ventured "downtown" (as anyone within a 90 mile radius refers to the district) to see the newly redesigned and reopened Smithsonian Institution Museum of American History.

It was a remarkable experience.  An iconic museum with incredibly well designed and thoughtful exhibits exploring our young nation's rich history.

Of the zillions of artifacts on display, I took especial note of the representation of the various "tin lids" utilized to tell the story of the United States, from this early specimen from the Jamestown settlement of 400  years ago:

to this high-tech composite helmet, complete with night vision and Mar-pat cover, fresh from the war in Iraq:

I was surprised and delighted by the variety and condition of the helmets on public display in tribute to the fighting men and women of the United States.

Not surprisingly, one encounters the helmets chronologically with this M1917 of the First World War  an early stop in the exhibit.

The progression continued with a nice M1917A1 represented at the very beginning of the WWII section.  

As nearly all of the helmets were behind glass you can only imagine my contortions as I stooped to catch glimpses of liners, chinstraps, and other features not readily visible.

This barracks mock-up provided an evocative setting to introduce the good old M1 helmet of the American soldier.

And there was no shortage of U.S. Marine...

and U.S. Navy representation.  This talker's helmet, though missing chinstrap, was a sight for sore eyes for this old Navyman.

I found myself coveting this nice M1938 tanker's helmet, an example of which still eludes my collection.

Axis countries were represented, though generally through booty and bring-backs.  This German M.40 topee is nearly as nice (nearly) as the one in my collection.

Below, my friend Brian zeros in on a WWII fixed-bale M1 in the "hands-on" area.

This one, like most of the others, was in outstanding condition.,

The Vietnam War had a great deal of representation with helmets of both the Communist forces:

(here, in reed green)

(and here, in khaki)

as well as the ARVN forces.  Here's a particularly nice South Vietnamese Army Ranger's helmet, and unlike those popping up daily on ebay, this one's quite legit.

U.S. forces were represented with various examples of that era's version of the venerable M1,

as well as with a chopper crewman's helmet

After so much of the gallery being populated by steel pots, this newer kevlar "Fritz" helmet  came as a reminder that time and technology do "march on".

Helmets were also abundant in the Museum Store, by the stack and ready for some young GI Joe or Jane to don whilst chasing imaginary badguys through the backyard.

After a full and satisfying day we three made our way back to the train station caught our various trains home, certain to return, sooner rather than later, to further explore the many fine museums of this very singular treasure-trove that is "our nation's attic"

And I hope to be posting here again "sooner, rather than later".

Keep your head down,

Mannie

A Veterans Day visit with the last Doughboy, Frank Buckles

Today I was able to take this old veteran of the trenches of the Great War, my 32nd Division M.1917, and go down the valley and across the river to visit Mr. Frank Buckles, America's sole surviving veteran of The Great War.

The helmet brought back memories of Mr. Buckles 11 months "over there".

(photo: David DeJonge)                          

to see a glimpse of the visit click here.

 

A hale and hearty Frank Buckles in 1917.   Today, at 108 years of age Mr. Buckles is a delightful person and a gracious host.  It was a real pleasure to visit him, and such a surprise to find that he lives only 25 minutes from my door!


 Following Armistice Day, Mr. Buckles enjoyed a prosperous career working for various steamship lines and in that capacity ended up in the Philippines in 1941.  Although no longer a fighting man, Mr. Buckles was imprisioned by the Japanese and held, under grueling conditions, until his rescue in 1945 by those doughboys of a later generation, the American G.I.s

Happy Veterans Day Mr. Buckles!

To learn more about Mr. Buckles and the World War One Memorial restoration efforts, link here

2009 MAX Show

Bring Money!

I went to the 2009 Military Antiques Extravaganza in Monroeville Pennsylvania this weekend.

Goodness! Extravaganza is right. What a show.

Comprised of mostly top-of-the line objects with few fakes, most notably the one below:

WWII German lid with a post-war liner. An oddly obvious attempt at subterfuge at such a prestigious show (and dig that crazy chinstrap bail).

The organizers of this show strive for authenticity of objects and they seem to do a pretty good job of policing their dealers. About the only thing bogus at this show were the prices. Generally unrealistic asking prices seemed to be the order of the day, flying in the face of not only the current economy but also the realities of ebay. Obviously this show's for the hoity-toity, not for the hoi-polloi such as I.

It is Nazi heavy in artifacts. I saw but one South American helmet, a Peruvian Adrian, and there were no Scandinavian, Asian, or Cold War Eastern Bloc helmets to be found. Anyone hoping to score modern ballistic plastic and composite helmets would have similarly found themselves out of luck.

Helmet-wise this show consisted of, in ascending order, WWII Russian, Japanese, Picklehauben, U.S. M1s, and Nazi German lids. I was in a sea of swastikas, to the point of creepiness.

Interestingly enough I saw almost no money changing hands, at least not on Saturday. Perhaps this was a reflection of general economic hard times, or simply the unrealistic asking prices on most of the items. Leaving me to wonder exactly who the target clientele was supposed to be:

deep-pocketed bunker decorators? rubes? overeager monied beginners? neo-nazis? Mel Brooks? (click the link, you'll be glad you did)

Crazy daddy-o!

Nonetheless it was worth seeing... once.

You can watch my low-resolution video below, thus saving a trip to Monroeville (you'll thank me for that).

Keep your sense of humor and keep on collecting!

Mannie

From Before the time of Modern Helmets

Here's a video I put together of a remarkable event that I attended one week ago. It's a short reminder of service, sacrifice, and the dignity we can bring to remembrance.

Go here to view.