187th 2nd Battalion 2nd Lt. M1C

[sgtdorango]

I just recently scored this beautiful 187th 2nd Battalion 2nd Looie helmet with large yellow tac markings, it has the 2nd Lt bar on front and very short follow me stripe on back, its in very rough shape and has lots of rusting and pitting...lets call it very heavy patina!....one side is pretty smoked and both swivel bales are gone, it came with a gutted infantry liner and i have joined this well worn M1C with a nicely worn Westinghouse jump liner for display....this has quickly become one of my favorite 187th helmets I have....I have another 187th 2nd Bat. with yellow tac marks thats in great shape but this one screams out loud it has been there and i wish it could tell the tales of its service of undoubtedly jumping in Korea....the 2nd Bat. was in the thick of things during both KW combat jumps!...thanks for looking...mike

[sgtdorango]

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[sgtdorango]

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[sgtdorango]

heres a few period pics of 187th 2nd Bat helmets in action....

[sgtdorango]

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[603dasc]

Very nich item!

[VALERY226]

Bonjour Mike,

Back to the forum, I'm discovering new treasures!
Really very, very nice ! A silly question, did you identify why 187th helmet marks could be white, yellow or even light orange?
Cheers

Valery

[sgtdorango]

Thanks guys!....Valery, i have talked with a friend that has in his possesion written orders from the combat jumps mentioning paint colors to be used for marking equipment bags etc for the drop, using white , yellow and blue, no mention of what each color would represent or why, maybe just those colors were available...also there was no mention of helmet markings in this particular document......so far i have seen 187th helmets marked in white and yellow and have seen a helmet liner with 11 A/B marked on front with light blue (have seen many liners using white paint) but havent seen a steel helmet yet with blue markings.....still waiting to find the documents stating steel helmet markings and paint color usage......its got to be out there somewhere!!.....thanks....mike

[VALERY226]

Thank you Mike.

A former 187th NCO wrote me that the Bn marks were orange? Perhaps, the old warrior mixed up with dark yellow?
I could be very interested to read the combat jump OPORD.

Cheers

Valery

[sgtdorango]

Hi Valery, i can see how the yellow could easily be thought of as orange i would think as maybe the paint got old or dirty ....also there could be helmets out there with orange markings, yet to be found!....here is a link to the USMF forum where part of the 187th Operations Order has been posted by my buddy who is a hardcore 187th collector.....mike
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/foru...age__hl__187th

[TORCH03]

WOW!! Killer 187th lid!! Congrats!

[187th airborne]

coment on helmets

I noted 187th Airborne helmets with the yellow half moon side markings. If I recall correctly the 1st Bn helmet marking was a single line thru the yellow half moon and the 3d Bn had 3 strips thru the yellow half moon. assuming my memory has not failed me......

My question: what altitude was the second jump at Munsan-ni. It seemed to me about 500 feet, but have been told otherwise. I made the second jump and it seemed to me the 20 or 30 foot Korean trees were just below me when I excited the door. The trees seem that close. That is why I always thought the jump was about 500 feet. Can't even remember if we wore reserves ???

I have a nice copy of a jump helmet with the 2d Bn markings which I gave to my grandsons.
Will put a pic up if I every learn how to post a pic......

[sgtdorango]

Thanks guys, this is one of my all time favorite helmets!....187thairborne, i would love to ask you a few questions about 187th helmets and their markings!.....thanks.....mike

[Rakkasan187]

Jump at Musan Ni

187th,

From all the information that I have read and all the reports that I have researched, your guess to the altitude of the jump is about right. The latest informatiomn that I have from an Operations Officer briefing men of G company indicates that the elevation for the Musan Ni combat jump was about 600 feet. However, with each plane, elevation would have or could have varied, give or take some elevation differences, so your stick may have jumped at 500 feet while others may have been as high as 700 feet. Depending on what lift you were in, planes dropping their troopers before you may have been higher or lower, based on this information, planes that arrived in the second or third waves for example may have had to adjust their elevation so as not to fly through descending paratroopers from a higher elevation. I will continue to research this information and when I have some concrete evidence I will be happy to share it with you. I have been searching for a copy of the Musan Ni operations order since I found the Sukchon Order.

Some information from the Sukchon order indicated that the jump altitude for the troopers was set at 700 feet above terrain and equipment was set at 1500 feet above terrain.

The Musan Ni drop was also the first Heavy Equipment drop where trucks, jeeps, artillery pieces were dropped behind emeny lines.

I have the original operations order for the Sukchon Sunchon drop:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/foru...tions+%2Border

Leigh