you won't believe this but a friend of mine just gave me a m1917 with this exact unit marking on it. mine has about 75% of the liner left in it. no name but stamped ZC193. his father just passed away and my friend was/is cleaning out his estate and knowing I collect WW1 gear he gave it to me along with a complete gas mask and bag. an issued dated card and instruction manual from 1918 tied to it. very hard and brittle so I won't remove it from the bag. the card/ booklet was right on top. really cool stuff. Thanks Sam!
@@bilgeratmilitaria I always associate helmet graffiti with Vietnam, although I've seen a few examples during WWII but this is the very first example I've seen from WWI. I'm thinking that is a once in a lifetime find dude, so so awesome.
@@bilgeratmilitariaI always find WWI fascinating because of the fact that not only do you have so many new and radically more deadly weapons, but also have commanders and generals that were from the Civil War Era. Such drastically different strategies and warfare, just another reason WWI is still the most brutal and nightmarish in my opinion.
@@KK_on_KK if you're talking about the unit art work specifically there's a lot of helmets that have them on there but there are also a TON that are faked. Most are easy to spot that they were done way way later but some are faked well. I have one other M1917 that had a name written under the brim as well but not unit insignia just camo paint.
@@KK_on_KK I absolutely agree! Crazy terrifying new inventions that came out throughout WWI had to have been absolutely nightmarish to those guys back then. We grew up knowing what tanks and flamethrowers and chemical gas were... imagine having no idea those things could exist then BAM it's Infront of you in a battlefield. Plus trench Warfare in general and mass shelling. Good lord
That's awesome my grandfather Francisco (Frank) Ioele fought with the 309th infantry 78th division WWI in all those campains... he was wounded twice shot in the chest where the bullet entered at his nipple and sliced through his side and was wounded by shrapnel in his leg. I have his gas mask that has trench art on it and is stained with his blood..I did a remembrance of him on the Fold 3 honor page with pictures of him in France and his discharge papers....just imagine a little Italian immigrant that could hardly speak English and all he knew was when the Sargent blew the whistle to come out of the trench and go over the top that's my grandfather...thank you for keeping the history of the 78th division alive and remembering those who fought in WWI
What an incredible story that is! Thank you so much for sharing his history and story, sir. I have a personal grooming kit with a bunch of artwork on it that is named to a gentleman that also served 309th infantry 78th Division. I kind of accidentally started getting things that went back to the 78th and figured it was a sign to keep it going and keep their memory alive. As someone who's Great Grandparents were also Italian immigrants who spoke little English...I can imagine it well!
My mother who is deceased now told me when she was a kid they had his uniform but thinks my grandmother threw it out because it was eaten by moths..there was also an article in our local paper from 1918 that told the story of my grandfather being the first soldier sending back a German spike helmet he took from the battlefield..he sent it to his Italian friend who was the tailor in our town at the time..I can't say weather it was a German he killed.i have only seen one picture my uncle Frank had of him wearing it as a kid in the 1930's..no one knew what happened to it..possibly my grandfather sold it when times were tough back then....my mother and my two uncles said as many veterans do he never talked about his experience in battle..unfortunately for me I never got to talk to him and create a biography of his war experience as in 1967 on his daily walk to visit his friend who owned a Italian grocery he was struck by a car and succumbed to his injuries at age 80...I do remember as a 5 year old he would sit us kids on his ankles and bounce us on his legs and I remember the shrapnel wound in his leg...he had a hole there...like you I'm very proud of my Italian American heritage...if the German sniper that shot him in the chest would of been a inch closer to his heart I would not be here sharing his story with you...
@@stephendejohn6543 That's absolutely amazing! That's so sad about his uniform and captured helmet being lost to the years. Such a shame that he survived so much during the war and was struck down by a car. Hopefully he got to enjoy his life after the war and got to live in peace. My Grandfather on my father's side served in Korea but also doesn't talk much about it. He is 93 now. I have his dog tags but that's the only thing he has from his military service aside from some pictures and slides. I never got to meet my mother's father as he died very young of a heart attack when my mom was 14. Well I'm glad that you were able to share this story with me to help keep his memory alive!
Very cool! I have two m1917 helmets but my 2nd one is is way better condition. On the leather strap of the 2nd helmet, it only has a 1st name of someone named Carl written on it.
you won't believe this but a friend of mine just gave me a m1917 with this exact unit marking on it. mine has about 75% of the liner left in it. no name but stamped ZC193. his father just passed away and my friend was/is cleaning out his estate and knowing I collect WW1 gear he gave it to me along with a complete gas mask and bag. an issued dated card and instruction manual from 1918 tied to it. very hard and brittle so I won't remove it from the bag. the card/ booklet was right on top. really cool stuff. Thanks Sam!
That's absolutely awesome! I'm always looking for 78th Division stuff and snag it whenever I'm able to. Kinda started by accident honestly lol
That helmet graffiti inside really puts the human element into it.
Doesn't it? Especially if you can find out information of the owner...it just makes it real instead of a random object.
@@bilgeratmilitaria I always associate helmet graffiti with Vietnam, although I've seen a few examples during WWII but this is the very first example I've seen from WWI. I'm thinking that is a once in a lifetime find dude, so so awesome.
@@bilgeratmilitariaI always find WWI fascinating because of the fact that not only do you have so many new and radically more deadly weapons, but also have commanders and generals that were from the Civil War Era. Such drastically different strategies and warfare, just another reason WWI is still the most brutal and nightmarish in my opinion.
@@KK_on_KK if you're talking about the unit art work specifically there's a lot of helmets that have them on there but there are also a TON that are faked. Most are easy to spot that they were done way way later but some are faked well. I have one other M1917 that had a name written under the brim as well but not unit insignia just camo paint.
@@KK_on_KK I absolutely agree! Crazy terrifying new inventions that came out throughout WWI had to have been absolutely nightmarish to those guys back then. We grew up knowing what tanks and flamethrowers and chemical gas were... imagine having no idea those things could exist then BAM it's Infront of you in a battlefield. Plus trench Warfare in general and mass shelling. Good lord
That's awesome my grandfather Francisco (Frank) Ioele fought with the 309th infantry 78th division WWI in all those campains... he was wounded twice shot in the chest where the bullet entered at his nipple and sliced through his side and was wounded by shrapnel in his leg. I have his gas mask that has trench art on it and is stained with his blood..I did a remembrance of him on the Fold 3 honor page with pictures of him in France and his discharge papers....just imagine a little Italian immigrant that could hardly speak English and all he knew was when the Sargent blew the whistle to come out of the trench and go over the top that's my grandfather...thank you for keeping the history of the 78th division alive and remembering those who fought in WWI
What an incredible story that is! Thank you so much for sharing his history and story, sir. I have a personal grooming kit with a bunch of artwork on it that is named to a gentleman that also served 309th infantry 78th Division. I kind of accidentally started getting things that went back to the 78th and figured it was a sign to keep it going and keep their memory alive.
As someone who's Great Grandparents were also Italian immigrants who spoke little English...I can imagine it well!
My mother who is deceased now told me when she was a kid they had his uniform but thinks my grandmother threw it out because it was eaten by moths..there was also an article in our local paper from 1918 that told the story of my grandfather being the first soldier sending back a German spike helmet he took from the battlefield..he sent it to his Italian friend who was the tailor in our town at the time..I can't say weather it was a German he killed.i have only seen one picture my uncle Frank had of him wearing it as a kid in the 1930's..no one knew what happened to it..possibly my grandfather sold it when times were tough back then....my mother and my two uncles said as many veterans do he never talked about his experience in battle..unfortunately for me I never got to talk to him and create a biography of his war experience as in 1967 on his daily walk to visit his friend who owned a Italian grocery he was struck by a car and succumbed to his injuries at age 80...I do remember as a 5 year old he would sit us kids on his ankles and bounce us on his legs and I remember the shrapnel wound in his leg...he had a hole there...like you I'm very proud of my Italian American heritage...if the German sniper that shot him in the chest would of been a inch closer to his heart I would not be here sharing his story with you...
@@stephendejohn6543 That's absolutely amazing! That's so sad about his uniform and captured helmet being lost to the years. Such a shame that he survived so much during the war and was struck down by a car. Hopefully he got to enjoy his life after the war and got to live in peace. My Grandfather on my father's side served in Korea but also doesn't talk much about it. He is 93 now. I have his dog tags but that's the only thing he has from his military service aside from some pictures and slides. I never got to meet my mother's father as he died very young of a heart attack when my mom was 14.
Well I'm glad that you were able to share this story with me to help keep his memory alive!
Very cool! I have two m1917 helmets but my 2nd one is is way better condition. On the leather strap of the 2nd helmet, it only has a 1st name of someone named Carl written on it.
That's awesome! I absolutely love finding these relics with names of things written in them. Even if you can't track it down it just adds to the story
Nice find
Thanks man! I was stoked to find it
Top Notch!
Thanks brother!
the helmet looks like a bowl lol but seriously tho all jokes aside dope find!
🤣🤣 a big ass soup bowl! Lol. But thank you, I appreciate it!