The Helmet Cover Returns Home

[@neiloconnor9349]

Paul, thanks for the very touching and sad story. I'm still working my way through the 4th Marines roster from 31 Oct 1941. About a third of the 1478 POWs never returned. A lot of POW survivors died somewhat prematurely, due to the stress of captivity, which included coal mining and other forced labor.

[@CarterOnConflict]

Neil, thank you for your comment - that is a very high rate, very sad. World War Two had a lot of tragedy. I appreciate you watching.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@neiloconnor9349 Neil, thank you. Ultimately, what will you do with this work you are uncovering/discovering. Do you have an end state goal, or is it like a thread that just keeps unraveling revealing secrets and who knows where it will go?

[@neiloconnor9349]

@@CarterOnConflict Paul--Sorry I missed this. I don't really have an end state. Plenty has been written on the topic. I'll often share findings with the families of the fallen that I find on Ancestry. In that sense Ancestry functions as a social network Occasionally there's a good human story that's worth sharing, in addition to any records or graphics that I find. (Wait, out.)

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@neiloconnor9349 makes sense Neil. It’s the journey, not the destination as they say.

[@falcon5215]

Both touching and absolutely incredible

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@falcon5215 quite a story indeed. One of the more poignant stories, I wanted more folks to watch. Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@andersfant4997]

Fascinating story. Cheers.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@andersfant4997 thank you Anders

[@paulschmehl2124]

Paul, thank you so much for sharing this heartbreaking but encouraging story.

[@CarterOnConflict]

You are welcome Paul, and thank you for watching and commenting.

[@anthonycheaford1962]

I was given a WW1 'Death Penny' - a 4.7" diameter bronze plaque inscribed with the name 'Charlie Whiteland' - that my father bought from a market stall. After tracing his service record (Captured March 1918 during Operation Michael, died June 22, 1918 of pneumonia when a prisoner-of-war in Alsace, France - aged just 19) I managed to track down his relatives & was over joyed to see Charlie was very well Remembered by them. Returning Charlie's memorial plaque to his family was one of the most rewarding tasks I've had the pleasure of doing.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@anthonycheaford1962 Anthony, I love to hear stories like this. Good on you for doing this service. Well, a Brit term I guess, “Death Penny” - I must head on over to Mr. Google :-) thanks for watching this video. It’s a real good story that doesn’t have alot of views.

[@workingguy6666]

Such a shame that all of those helmet covers weren't saved and sent back to family upon the loss of their loved ones.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@workingguy6666 that’s something I had not thought of until you mentioned it here. Wow. Yes. I think family members would appreciate it. Indeed. A shame. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@MrEye4get]

An amazing and touching story.

[@CarterOnConflict]

Thank you for watching

[@CarterOnConflict]

No one - that has come forward - knows what the word "Snorkle" means.

[@rickyreece7471]

What an amazing story

[@CarterOnConflict]

Thank you for watching and commenting Rick

[@bradparker9664]

I'm slightly confused. This is an amazing story, regardless, but I understood that the guy on Okinawa pulled the cover only and put it in his pocket. (Obviously, a full M1 shell and liner are not going to fit in your pocket.) Then when the news story narration runs, it seems to indicate that the helmet and cover apparently were returned. In looking at the footage, it looks like they put the cover an just a random M1 for display purposes, but then again, one guy paid $200 for a cover only? I've got a number of doughboy helmets, M1's, a PASGT, MICH, etc., and several M1 covers that i don't recall having to pay anything for. I'm just confused as to where the $200 value comes in and whether or not the helmet on display under said cover is THE helmet worn at the time of Billy's death or just a random helmet used to properly display this very significant cover. Perhaps I misheard or otherwise misunderstand, but I am a little fuzzy on this point. (Interestingly enough, my Dad was at Naha AFB on Okinawa at the time that helmet and cover would have arrived on the island). Regardless of my confusion, it's an extraordinary story and very, very touching. Thank you for putting this together and posting it.

[@CarterOnConflict]

Great questions, and I really appreciate you asking. And watching. Okay, the only thing returned was the helmet cover itself, not the helmet. So the museum mounted it on a random helmet cover for display, and maybe the CBS crew was confused about that, and thought that helmet came back as well. But it didn’t. Now, great question - did Quinn buy just the helmet cover alone, and paid 200 for it, or did he buy the helmet AND helmet cover? I never talked to Quin, but in a northjersey dot com article, published on Nov 11 2022, the paper says he purchased the “helmet cover” and that he paid $200 for it.

[@bradparker9664]

@@CarterOnConflict Thank you so very much for your reply. $200 for a cover that I have several of that I've just given away and have some left seems incredible. Maybe being in actual combat with authentic Grunt graffitti on it makes it more valuable. I've kind of got a thing about helmets for some reason. I've got my PASGT from my time in law enforcement and then picked up other types here and there, but none of them have a story attached like the one in your video. I appreciate your saying maybe the news people misunderstood because i thought i was missing something. Thank you so much and keep up the great work, kind sir.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@bradparker9664 thank you so much, and I am appreciative you like my channel and hope you watch other videos, and share my channel with others. I am not a collector, but I - as a layman - thought that $200 was a steep price for a cover. In any sense, that’s what we have. Yes, a great story. Thank you again.

[@marchsrey7126]

Wow

[@CarterOnConflict]

How are you? Where are you?

[@minutemanstudios1338]

Very cool, I’d recommend getting an m55, but the m52a works just fine (I started out using one and I still have it today) I might sell my m55, and if I do I’ll update this comment with the eBay link so you can see it.

[@CarterOnConflict]

Thank you very much!