Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. The M1 helmet is a combat helmet that was used by the United States military from World War II until 1985, when it was succeeded by the PASGT helmet. For over forty years, the M1 was standard issue for the U.S. military. The M1 helmet has become an icon of the American military, with its design inspiring other militaries around the world.

Vietnam War era M-1 helmet shells have a set of swivel (movable) chinstrap loops called bales and a stainless steel rim. These rims were both rust resistant and had non-magnetic qualities that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass).

This helmet is a fine example and still retains all of its original WWII and Vietnam War parts and the shell has all original corked grain paint. This is any early war used helmet as it still has the original pre war chin straps and buckle.

This helmet is a lovely late WWII produced rear seam swivel bale helmet by McCord Radiator. As with most Vietnam War era M1 helmets, these were produced during WWII and were arsenal refinished for use in Korea and then again in Vietnam. The liner is a 1950s “high pressure” Westinghouse liner and is only missing the leather chinstrap. The shell is heat stamp is 1269E and indicates manufacture in late 1945.

The best feature of the helmet is the personalization on the outside which tells a story in itself! The helmet belonged to John D. Lawson (ASN:56841799) who was in the US Navy as a member of the Mobile Riverine Force, 13th River Assault Squadron. The front of the helmet has the word ZIPPO in yellow which fortunately helped in identifying the type of Monitor he was on. The left side of the helmet has a horseshoe with the number 13 in the center and MRF below that, this identifies Lawson’s squadron. The rear of the helmet has, in red, 9th DIV / VIET NAM. On the right side of the helmet there is another unit designator painted on and this one is for the 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment which fell under the 9th Infantry Division.

This lovely M1 comes more than ready for further research and display.

Mobile Riverine Force
The Mobile Riverine Force became operational in early 1967. Navy transport and assault vessels assigned to the MRF carried troops of the Army 9th Infantry Division, which engaged enemy forces in amphibious search-and-destroy operations near waterways. MRF vessels then remained on station to provide gunfire support and to pick up the infantrymen once the battle ended. MRF actions could last from hours to days, after which personnel returned to their bases, either on shore or aboard floating barracks and maintenance ships. The force’s main shore base was at Dong Tam, northwest of My Tho between the Delta and the Rung Sat, but the MRF’s floating mobile bases moved where they were needed.

The MRF consisted of a host of patrol boats and armored troop carriers (ATCs), while heavily armored and armed mechanized landing craft, nicknamed “monitors” for their
likeness to nineteenth-century warships, served as the “battleships” of the force. Additional watercraft functioned as helicopter landing pads, medical boats, and refueling and resupply vessels. The MRF’s greatest strengths were its mobility and flexibility. It could transport over 500 Soldiers nearly anywhere in the Mekong Delta within 24 hours and then provide them with logistics and fire support. The force conducted operations in nine provinces during its first year of existence, fighting to reduce the Viet Cong’s strength in the Delta.

The Monitor, was a highly modified version of the LCM-6 developed by the United States Navy for use as a mobile riverine assault boat in the Vietnam War. Another version served as a Command and Control Boat (CCB or Charlie Boat).

The Monitor was similar in many respects to the Armored Troop Carrier (ATC). The Monitor was 60.5 feet (18.4 m) long with a 17.5 feet (5.3 m) beam and a 3.3 ft (1.0 m) draft. Displacing 66 short tons (60 t), it could achieve a top speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) knots with its twin Gray Marine 225-hp diesel engines, however armor and weapons reduced the effective speed to 4-7 knots. High-hardness XAR-30-type steel and bar armor provided ballistic protection for the crew from rounds up to .50-caliber in size and offered some protection against high explosive antitank rounds up to 57mm. Below-waterline hull blisters provided added hull protection, minimized draft, and increased stability.

In mid-1967, when the Vietcong constructed bunkers capable of withstanding 40mm rounds, RIVFLOT 1 began exploring the idea of deploying flamethrowers on riverboats as a potential bunker buster. On 4 October, the M132A1, an Army flamethrower, was shoehorned into an ATC. Commanders hoped the M132A1’s 32-second burst and 150 yards (140 m) range would not only neutralize enemy bunkers but also deter river ambushes. Tests proved satisfactory, but the M132A1, weighing 23,000 pounds, was too heavy for the Navy’s needs. Instead, lighter M10-8 flamethrowers were installed on six Monitors delivered in May 1968.

Nicknamed "Zippo" after the popular cigarette lighter, these Monitors mounted two M10-8 flamethrowers, each with an effective range of 200 yards (180 m)–300 yards (270 m). With 1,350 US gallons (5,100 l; 1,120 imp gal) of napalm fuel, the M10-8 could lay down a sheet of flame for 225 seconds. Sailors would make napalm by mixing a powder consisting of the coprecipitated aluminum salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids with gasoline. Compressed air propelled the napalm through the flamethrower, and a gasoline lighter acted as the trigger.