Summer Vacation Fun Photos are @ the bottom of this page; don't forget to look there too.

I collect WWII German camo helmets.  I hope you enjoy the photos.

Click on the photos for enlargements

This tropical para is recently out of the woodwork from Northern, Michigan. My friend bought it from the son of the WWII vet who brought it home from Sicily.

This is my latest camo helmet acquisition, and is pictured in  The history of the German Steel helmet: 1916-1945; by Ludwig Baer.

Yes, I know it's not a helmet, but it is wonderful. This was sent home, from Sicily, to the younger brother of a serviceman, along with some other souvenirs. I saw it about 10 years ago, and was really happy when he finally sold it to me, recently. It is entirely hand made, with Luftwaffe tropical over seas cap insignia applied to the front. A nice palm tree and the word Afrika are neatly embroidered on the side.

This is a double decal Army, and out of the woodwork in Indiana just the way you see it!

I bought this M40 Luft in Prague just after the wall came down. It is painted white with several greens  brushed on. The net is also original to the piece. It is one of my favorites!

This is a DD Luftwaffe I bought from a USN vet in 1987 for $100. He took it off of a POW in Cherbourg  just after the surrender.

This  DD Luft 1st Pattern tropical camo was bought by a local collector back in the early 1960s from the vet. I recently obtained it through another dealer. The helmet was offered to me in 1985 for $200, which I declined because that was a crazy price @ the time.

This was my gift to my self when I landed my first teaching job.

This was found in a garbage dumpster in Detroit in 2001 (really!)

 This one is pictured in the big German War Booty book.

This one is not a super vivid example, but shows better in person. It is an M40 Luft, with the decal under the camo. I have seen other Luftwaffe camos in this style and color. Do you have one too?

I bought this one @ the Toledo, Ohio gun show for $225 back in 1988.

This one came out of a garage sale in 1987.

This helmet has been in my collection for a long time. It was bought from a picker that found 2 of them in the possession of the WWII vet that brought them home. I was only able to buy one;  the other was sold to his buddy. Notice the original Medic's ID card printed on oilcloth. Every medic that wore the Red Cross armband was issued with this type of authorization. I have looked for one of these for 15 years, and recently found it @ the Mason, Michigan gun show.

I am not into soldier art, but this one I could not say "no" to.  It is a beautiful single decal M40 army size ET68 with wonderfully painted souvenir places.

SUMMER VACATION MILITARIA FUN PHOTOS

This is my assistant, and junk food connoisseur Glen, a.k.a. Woodstock.  Sorry ladies, he's married.

This is Joyce, a wonderfully nice lady from Florida. She was nice enough to sell me her late husband's Registered MP43.  The tale if this wonderful firearm is as follows. The older of 2 brothers was in the 17th airborne in the ETO. He picked this up and sent it home, as a present to his younger brother, who registered it with the US government, just the way he was required to. He held on to it until his death several yeas ago. One of his sons, contacted a local relic dealer (probably one of the best sniffers in the Detroit area, who deserves a lifetime relic award) who contacted me.  And, now it has a new home in my relic room.  Yes, it shoots, please see below.

This is Steve, my friend, and my accountant. He claims that I can afford to let him shoot up my Kurz ammo.

My Niece, the Battleship champion of Christmas vacation!

Here is my buddy, Reefe, the big brother I never had, with our mutual friend, and WWII vet, Al Nemeth of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion of the All American 82nd Airborne Division. Al is always ready to do some butt kickin' in the name of the good old USA!

This is the Field Marshal AKA Jim. He was my second dad, and mentor in the world of militaria, junk hunting as he called it. I spent many thousands of hours @ his kitchen table (although not enough), listening to tales of the old days, mixed with advice on life.  He was an avid deer hunter. You should notice the original high turret K98 sniper rifle he used to blast deer. He died back in 99, and I miss him very much!

  Summer Vacation Militaria supports womans' beach volleyball!

This is my good friend Bill Combs, the world's leading authority on WWI and Spanish Civil War Militaria.  Well, maybe not the world's leading authority, but he is pretty darn knowledgeable about that stuff.  Check his website www.agmohio.com

This is my friend Larry; he collects flamethrowers. Larry is always looking for flamethrowers and flamethrower related militaria. The photo of him shooting the Original WWII flamethrower is from the Clarkston, Michigan WWII Days Military History event held the first weekend in June, just North of Detroit. Contact me for info regarding next year.

My buddy, E. Larry, garage sale scrounger extraordinaire,  taking a well deserved break.   Sorry ladies, this one's married too.

....brothers, both doing their duty....

Clp. Smith serving up bacon sannies for the Crown.    

 Some kids have all the best toys!!

This is Dale and Jane with their grand daughter; they don't dress like this every day.

WWII Italian reenacting is supported here!  This is an outstanding WWII Italian impression. Everything is original including an actual Italian person (of Italian origin). If you see this guy; buy him a beer, or better yet, a canteen cup of wine.

German WWII reenactors make any event more fun.  Brian (pictured at left) recommends not packing a fur hat and ripe banana in your bread bag during a tactical reenactment.

Summer Vacation Militaria reminds you summer party hounds to remember to drink responsibly, and try not to puke in your own shoes.

This is a photo of me in 1990 in front of the Colditz Castle, one of the most famous POW camps of WWII.

Here I am with a smiling (this is a smile in Russia) Soviet Army Captain in East Germany near Dresden.

Nobody knows, or digs German WWII swords like my buddy George!

Here I am with the birthday gift I bought for myself when I turned 40.  I always recommend full auto weapons as birthday gifts.

Ah summer time, let's hit the pool...or maybe the beach.

.....maybe just running through the sprinklers would be a better idea...

Big Mike has discovered something that Communism has produced that is worthwhile.

Mike doesn't have a bad attitude, it just looks like it.

My best friend Glen looks very convincing.

As the war progressed, the SS was forced to relax it's high standards for manpower.