About

The Collection

The collection began when I purchased my first military item at the age of 13. Since that day, I have collected nonstop, accumulating a variety of items, most of which are helmets (one of the two focuses of my collection). It was not until I was gifted my great grandfathers hat that my interest in discovering the stories behind named items began. I knew very little about his service and began trying to dig up everything I could find about him. Slowly but surely, I accumulated a wealth of facts and personal stories, which when put together, gave a look into his life. It was not long until I discovered that this could be done not only for my relatives, but for almost every person who served. This lead me to begin collecting named medals and items in an attempt to piece together as many stories as I could. These servicemen and women have always been my personal heroes and I strive to do as much justice to them as possible. I figure that if at least one person reads their story, than their deeds are never forgotten.

The Process

The process of recording these stories begins with an item that is named coming into the collection. This typically occurs through me being gifted it or buying it. Once the item is in hand, I begin researching it. This typically consists of many hours scouring genealogical websites, source materials, and the general internet for any piece of information about the individual. Once I am confident that I have enough general info, I get in touch with the archives of the country in which the person served to get their records. In some cases these records are digitized and take only a moment to acquire and other times they take months and a private researcher to acquire. Once the files arrive and are analyzed, I put together a timeline of units and places/events the individual was present at. Then I scour historical literature to help put together an idea of what occurred and what it was like. Finally it comes time to piece together the story using exactly what is known about that individual with historical context and some insight into what they may have experienced or felt in that moment. The process does not end at the writing of their story, in fact, it is a never ending process and these stories are constantly updated with new facts that emerge. I am always learning about new places to scour for information in an attempt to expand their story. Much of the improvements in my research and the site can be directly credited to Robert Mackowiak of the RCM Collection, who has been a great mentor to me.

Have more information on an individual featured on the website? Please contact me via the forum at the bottom of the page!

Sources, Items, and Photographs

Unfortunately, I do not know everything about every unit and battle (though I wish I did). Thankfully, there are a number of great sources around that have helped me where my knowledge has failed. I will include each of these sites in the citations of the page they are referenced on. Some of the stories feature photos of the soldiers that I do not own. The party that owns or uploaded the photograph will be credited in the description of the photographs. Each of these photos has been colorized via the use of an app and were not previously in color. I also have posted some documents related to their service and have given the source of them in the photo caption. All photos not labeled to a source are from my own personal collection. For any concerns regarding images or information, please contact me via the contact forum at the bottom of the page.

Other Great Websites:

My Second Website: https://camhelmetcollection.weebly.com/

The RCM Collection: https://www.rcmcollection.com/

H&H Collection: https://helmetsofhistory.weebly.com/

Historic Dog Tags: www.historicdogtags.com

The War Dungeon: https://thewardungeon.com/

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