The Art of Self-Expression on a Steel Pot: 30 Vintage Photos Showing Graffiti on Soldiers’ Helmets During the Vietnam War

A lot of the soldiers wrote graffiti on their helmets with inscriptions of their attitudes about where they were and why they were there.

The military called it the M- I helmet, the troops called it a “steel pot”. The damn thing felt like it weighed half a ton when you first put it on your newly shaved head in basic training or boot camp. It’s a sure bet that not long after the U.S. military introduced the steel pot (with its fiber glass shell liner) in 1941, some GI or Marine scribbled “Kilroy war here” or some other oddball or iron, saying on his helmet. Until the Vietnam War, though. what you most commonly saw on helmets were rank insignia and unit designations.

As is the case with so many other thing, the conflict in Vietnam put its own unique stamp on the things the soldiers wrote on their helmets. All manner of iconoclastic stuff found its way onto our steel pots. By far, the most popular were a girlfriend’s name, a city and state back home, peace signs and short-timer calendars. As the war progressed, slogans and other graffiti were proudly displayed by the wearer. Ironically, the most reproduced helmet graffito to emerge from the Vietnam War is a fictitious one, although it is based on reality: the “Born to Kill” that Private Joker wrote on his steel pot in the movie Full Metal Jacket, which is based on former Marine Gustav Hasford’s 1979 novel The Short-Timers.

The iconoclastic Joker’s helmet message is central to the surreal “duality of man” dialogue in the movie, in which a hard-core colonel chews out Private Joker for his peace symbol button. “You write ‘Born to Kill’ on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s thus supposed to be, some kind of sick joker?” the colonel harrumphs. To which Joker replies: “I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir, the Jungian thing, sir.” To which, the colonel replies: “Whose side are you on. son?”

The troops in Vietnam were the children of the 1960s, and like their cohorts back home, even in a war zone they found a way to express themselves.

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The Story Behind the Iconic Photo of a Soldier Wearing a Hand Lettered “War is Hell” Slogan on His Helmet in Vietnam War

German photographer Horst Fass began his career at the age of 21. He was a photojournalist during the Vietnam War and took a handful of iconic photos of the time period. One of the most famous pictures is War is Hell. On June 18, 1965, Fass wrote in his notes: “the unidentified Army solider picture was shot June 18, 1965, and the soldier was with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Battalion on defense duty at Phouc Vinh airstrip in South Vietnam.” For a while, this was the only information known about this photo. The soldier’s identity was a complete mystery.

AP photojournalist Horst Faas took this iconic photo on June 18, 1965, during the Vietnam War with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Battalion on defense duty at Phouc Vinh airstrip in South Vietnam.

Fass’s picture grabbed the attention of many because of one main element: contrast. The soldier’s bright eyes contrast heavily with the darkness of the rest of the photo. He’s young and smiling innocently, despite his position as a soldier fighting in a very complex, mature war. “Take the helmet out, and this could easily be a high school yearbook photo.” Most importantly, his eyes lead the viewer to the words written on his helmet: War is Hell.

Years later, Fran Chaffin Morrison revealed that the soldier in the photograph was her late husband, Larry Wayne Chaffin. The two met while Chaffin was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia; they married when Chaffin was 17 and Fran was 16. Chaffin served for a year in the 173rd brigade, beginning in May 1965. When the photo was taken, Chaffin was only 19 years old. He was discharged from the army, and his wife gratefully met him at the airport upon his return home. Tucked under his arm was a copy of the Stars and Stripes publication that featured the photograph of the unidentified soldier. He showed it to his wife and jokingly told her, “That picture is going to make me rich some time.” His portrait was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch special about soldiers returning home, along with his name in the caption. There was no doubt the photo was of Chaffin.

A family photo shows Fran Morrison and Larry Wayne Chaffin reunited shortly after Chaffin returned from serving in the war.

Unfortunately, Chaffin had trouble readjusting to life back in the States. He developed diabetes, possibly as the result of the use of Agent Orange, and died of health complications at the age of 39. His family carries on his story, however. All three of his children know the story by heart. Chaffin’s daughter Belinda was working as a magazine distributer when she noticed the photograph in the November 2010 Time publication that she was delivering. Best of all, Belinda’s son Marcus strikingly resembles his grandfather and has been photographed next to the famous portrait.

(Photo by Horst Faas. This original article was written by Hannah Ross, and published on Sites at Penn State)

Miss War Worker Beauty Contest in Toronto, Canada, 1942

On July 18, 1942, more than 100 contestants from Canada’s major military manufacturing plants vied for the title of “Miss War Worker.” The winner, Dorothy Linham, starred in a Palmolive Soap advertisement.

During the Second World War, every country had its ways of keeping the troops and war workers motivated. From female celebrities performing on stage or arranging pageants like this, the purpose was to keep spirits up and let everyone have fun. These photos were taken in 1942 at the “Miss War Worker” beauty contest and these ladies helped the war effort.

Fascinating Color Photos of Marilyn Monroe Singing to the Troops During the First Show of Her Four-Day Tour in Korea

Pictures of Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe singing to an audience of G.I.’s during the first show of her recent four-day tour of Korea on February 22, 1954. She is wearing her much-discussed low-cut purple cocktail dress about which she had told newsmen, “it’s the only one I brought over that is suitable for the show.”

In tough times Hollywood stars have always seemed to rise to the occasion selflessly, going the extra mile, literally, to entertain the troops that are defending our countries freedoms.

Marilyn Monroe was one such performer. Despite Marilyn’s profound fear of live performances she rose above her phobia to provide a few hours of joy to over 100, 000 homesick servicemen in Korea. She delighted the audience with her singing, dancing and charming banter. She was voted the number one pin-up during the Korea war and she honored that title by entertaining troops on the war front and visiting them at bedside in near by hospitals.

It was in February 1954, during her honeymoon to Joe DiMaggio that Marilyn decided to drop in on the soldiers in Korea. It was a trip that she would later recall with enormous fondness, a time when she realized she was truly a star.

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A Soldier’s Face After Four Years of War, 1941-1945

In 1941, Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev was a young man ready to start his creative life as an artist when Germany attacked the Soviet Union and he had to join the Army. Four years later, the difference in his face is striking. A thin and tired face, deep wrinkles, a troubled stare, this man was completely changed after witnessing 4 years of a no-rule war in the Eastern Front.

These two pictures are shown side by side in the Andrei Pozdeev museum. The museum caption reads: “(Left) The artist Eugen Stepanovich Kobytev the day he went to the front in 1941. (Right) In 1945 when he returned”. This the human face after four years of war. The first picture looks at you, the second one looks through you.

Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev was born on December 25, 1910 in the village of Altai. After graduating from pedagogical school, he worked as a teacher in the rural areas of Krasnoyarsk. His passion was painting especially portraits and panoramas from daily life. The dream for a higher artistic education came true in 1936 when he started studying at the Kyiv State Art Institute in Ukraine.

In 1941 he graduated with honors from the art institute and was ready for a new artistic life. However, all his dreams were cut short on June 22, 1941 when Nazi Germany attacked Soviet Union. The new artist voluntarily became a soldier and enlisted in one of the artillery regiments of the Red Army. The regiment was engaged in a fierce battle to protect the small town of Pripyat, which lies between Kiev and Kharkiv.

In September 1941, Kobytov was wounded in the leg and became a prisoner of war. He ended up in a German notorious concentration camp operated out of Khorol, which was called “Khorol pit” (Dulag #160). Approximately 90 thousand prisoners of war and civilians died in this camp.

Built on the grounds of what used to be a brick factory, the Khorol camp had only one barracks; it was half-rotten and rested on posts that were leaning to one side. It was the only shelter from the autumn rains and storms. Only a few of the sixty thousand prisoners managed to cram in there. The rest had no barracks. In the barracks people stood pressed tightly against each other. They were gasping from the stench and the vapors and were drenched with sweat.

In 1943, Kobytev managed to escape from captivity and again rejoined the Red Army. He participated in various military operations throughout Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Germany. After the Second World War ended, he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his excellent military service during the battles for liberation of Smila and Korsun in Ukraine. However, the High Command refused to award him the Victory over Germany medal since his military career was “spoiled” for being a prisoner of war.

(via Rare Historical Photos)

Sharing Bananas With a Goat During the Battle of Saipan, ca. 1944

A lovely photo of marine First Sergeant Neil I. Shober of Fort Wayne, Indiana, sharing the spoils of war bananas with a native goat, one of the few survivors of the terrific naval and air bombardment in support of the Marines hitting the beach on the Japanese-mandated island of Saipan, ca. 1944.

(Photo: National Museum of the Pacific War)

The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from June 15 to July 9, 1944.

The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on June 5, 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was launched. The U.S. 2nd Marine Division, 4th Marine Division, and the Army’s 27th Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Holland Smith, defeated the 43rd Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito.

The loss of Saipan, with the deaths of at least 29,000 troops and heavy civilian casualties, precipitated the resignation of Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tōjō and left the Japanese archipelago within the range of United States Army Air Forces B-29 bombers.

Soldiers of 11th Battalion Posing on the Great Pyramid of Giza, January 1915

Group portrait of the Australian 11th (Western Australia) Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force posing on the Great Pyramid of Giza on January 10, 1915, prior to the landing at Gallipoli. The 11th Battalion did much of their war training in Egypt and would be amongst the first to land at Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915. In the five days following the landing, the battalion suffered 378 casualties, over one third of its strength.

The 11th Battalion was an Australian Army battalion that was among the first infantry units raised during World War I for the First Australian Imperial Force. It was the first battalion recruited in Western Australia, and following a brief training period in Perth, the battalion sailed to Egypt where it undertook four months of intensive training. In April 1915 it took part in the invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula, landing at Anzac Cove. In August 1915 the battalion was in action in the Battle of Lone Pine. Following the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the battalion returned to Egypt where it was split to help form the 51st Battalion. In March 1916, the battalion was deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium where it took part in trench warfare until the end of the war in November 1918.

The battalion was disbanded in 1919, but since 1921 has been re-activated and merged several times as a reserve unit, initially as the 11th Battalion (City of Perth Regiment), which fought a brief campaign against the Japanese on New Britain during World War II. Other units that have maintained the traditions of the original 11th Battalion include the 11th/44th Battalion (City of Perth Regiment), ‘A’ (City of Perth) Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment and the current 11th/28th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment.

Incredible Vintage Photos of Belfast During German Air Raids in 1941

Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom and the second-largest on the island of Ireland.

By the early 19th century, Belfast became a major port. Shipbuilding was a key industry; the Harland and Wolff shipyard, which built the RMS Titanic, was the world’s biggest shipyard.

The images in this album are from the Records of the Cabinet Secretariat, Official War History of Northern Ireland.

The photographs show the extent of the destruction caused during German air raid attacks on the city of Belfast in April and May 1941.

Bridge Street, Belfast, May 8th 1941

Soldier on Bridge Street, Belfast, May 8th 1941

Waring Street, Belfast, May 1941

York Street, Belfast, May 1941

“Land of Hope and Glory”, York Road, Belfast, April 16th, 1941

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Sandbags Protecting the Notre Dame Cathedral During World War I

Notre-Dame de Paris (meaning “Our Lady of Paris”), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral was consecrated to the Virgin Mary and considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Its pioneering use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and colorful rose windows, as well as the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style. Major components that make Notre Dame stand out include one of the world’s largest organs and its immense church bells.

The cathedral’s construction began in 1160 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was largely complete by 1260, though it was modified frequently in the following centuries. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. In the 19th century, the cathedral was the site of the coronation of Napoleon I and the funerals of many Presidents of the French Republic.

The cathedral was damaged during the First World War. In 1914 more than two dozen German shells hit the cathedral and the wooden scaffolding was set on fire, which in turn lit the oak of the roof. The lead used to seal the roof melted, which in turn set the wooden pews on fire. Stained glass windows and pillars and statuary were destroyed.

These vintage photographs show sandbags were stacked up against Notre Dame Cathedral to try and prevent the war damage.

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British Baby Gas Masks From World War II

These masks looks like deep-sea diving helmets but are in fact gas masks for babies, dating from World War II. In 1938, the British Government gave everyone, including babies, gas masks to protect them in case the Germans dropped poison gas bombs on Britain.

These gas masks were for children up to two years old. Parents placed their baby inside the mask so that the head was inside the steel helmet and the baby could see through the visor. Then they wrapped the canvas part around the baby’s body with the straps fastened under its bottom like a nappy, and its legs dangling free below. The canvas had a rubber coating to stop gas seeping through the material, and the straps were tied securely so that the mask was airtight.

There is would have been asbestos filter on the side of the mask, and this absorbed poisonous gases. Attached to this is a rubber tube shaped like a concertina with a handle. This was pushed back and forth to pump air into the mask. With the baby inside the mask, an adult could start to use the hand pump.

Health Visitors and Child Welfare Centres gave lessons on how to use the mask. Despite instruction courses, few parents were totally happy with encasing their child in an airtight chamber. In fact there was some question over its safety. During demonstrations there were reports that babies fell asleep and became unnaturally still inside the masks! It is likely that the pump didn’t push enough air into the mask and the babies came close to suffocating. Luckily, they were never put to the test in a real situation.

As well as the infant gas mask, there was a gas-proof pram that could be used to protect babies from poisonous gas attacks.

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As the Allies Approached Berlin, Citizens Did Their Best to Take Care of Berlin Zoo’s Animals

Opened on 1 August 1844, the Zoologischer Garten Berlin was the first zoo in Germany. The aquarium opened in 1913. The first animals were donated by Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, from the menagerie and pheasantry of the Tiergarten. The nearby U-Bahn station was opened the same year.

During World War II, the zoo area was hit by Allied bombs for the first time on 8 September 1941. Most damage was done during the bombardments on 22 and 23 November 1943. In less than 15 minutes, 30% of the zoo population was killed on the first day. On the second day the aquarium building was completely destroyed by a direct hit. Of the eight elephants only one survived, the bull Siam. 2-year-old hippo bull Knautschke was saved from the fire in his animal house. Most damage was done during the Battle of Berlin. From 22 April 1945 onwards, the zoo was under constant artillery fire of the Red Army. Heavy fighting took place on the zoo area till 30 April. Because of safety measures, some predators and other dangerous animals were killed by the zoo keepers.

By the end of the war, the zoo was fortified with the Zoo Tower, a huge flak tower that was one of the last remaining areas of Nazi German resistance against the Red Army, with its bunkers and anti-aircraft weapons defending against Allied air forces. At the entrance of the zoo, there was a small underground shelter for zoo visitors and keepers. During the battle, wounded German soldiers were taken care for here by female personnel and the wives of zookeepers. On 30 April, the zoo flak bunker surrendered.

A count on May 31, 1945, revealed only 91 of 3,715 animals had survived, including two lion cubs, two hyenas, Asian bull elephant Siam, hippo bull Knautschke, ten hamadryas baboons, a chimpanzee, and a black stork. After the battle, some animals disappeared or were eaten by Red Army soldiers. Following the zoo’s destruction, it and the associated aquarium was reconstructed on modern principles so as to display the animals in as close to their natural environment as feasible. The success in breeding animals, including some rare species, demonstrates the efficacy of these new methods.

In the middle of the hail of bombs in 1943, hippo “Knautschke” was born in Berlin Zoo and was one of only 91 zoo animals to survive the Second World War. Here he presents himself in May 1957 together with his daughter “Boulette” on the rural part of the grounds of the hippo house, which was newly opened in 1956.

Chimpanzees “Titine”, “Lore” and “Susi” were served food at the table in the 1940s.

The first zoo giraffes to reach Germany were born in the wild, captured there and transported to Europe. Giraffe “Rike”, however, was born in October 1938 in the Berlin Zoo. She stayed there until she died of lung disease in February 1957.

Shoebill stork being cared for after the bombing of the Zoo, 1943.

Siam, the elephant before the war.

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In 2015, 4 Survivors Posed With Iconic Auschwitz Photo 70 Years After the Notorious Death Camp Was Liberated

In 2015, child survivors of the holocaust who were photographed huddled together at notorious Auschwitz have been reunited 70 years after the notorious death camp was liberated. This is the moment four of the survivors pointed themselves out in the shocking photograph, that was taken by Red Army photographer Alexander Vorontsov on the day they liberated the concentration camp.

One the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 26, 2015, a group of survivors hold up and point to a picture of themselves, which was taken the day the camp was freed by the Soviet army.

The four – 86-year-old Gabor Hirsch of Switzerland, 80-year-old Eva Kor of Chicago, 81-year-old Paula Lebovics of Los Angeles and 79-year-old Miriam Ziegler of Toronto – were part of a historic delegation of 300 Auschwitz survivors visited Poland to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 26, 2015. An initiative of the USC Shoah Foundation finally brought them together – decades later.

For Ziegler, this was the first time back on Polish soil. “I swore I would never go back to Poland, but I feel it’s my duty now to do it,” she said during a recent interview with the Canadian Press.

During the shoot she recreated the gesture. “How come I am the only one showing my number? I don’t know what made me do it,” she tried to explain in the interview, adding that, at her then-youthful age, one army looked like any other.

In the photo, Vorontsov, who accompanied the soldiers of the Red Army when they liberated the camp on 27 January 1945, depicts 13 children – ten of whom are still alive today.

Yad Vashem had previously said that six of them live in Israel: Gabriel Neumann (fourth from the right), Bracha Katz (second from the right), Tomy Shacham (81, first from the left), Erika Dohan (84, fourth from the left), Shmuel Schelach (third from the right), and Marta Wise (80, seventh from the left).

“That I survived and my sister survived is beyond me,” told Wise in an interview with the Associated Press. Wise, who was a 10-year-old Slovakian Jew and weighed just 17 kilograms (37 pounds) when the camp was liberated, is now 80 and lives in Jerusalem. “I’ve never been able to work it out. To me, as far as I am concerned, the 27th of January is my second birthday... because that’s when we got another lease on life.”

The survivors – From left: 81-year-old Paula Lebovics, 79-year-old Miriam Ziegler, 85-year-old Gabor Hirsch and 80-year-old Eva Kor pose with the original image of them as children taken at Auschwitz at the time of its liberation on January 26, 2015 in Krakow, Poland.

Gabor Hirsch

Paula Lebovics

Miriam Ziegler

Eva Kor

(Photos: Getty Images)

30 Incredible Vintage Photos of Warsaw Uprising Have Been Brought to Life After Colorized

The intricate process of coloring black and white photographs has been carried out by Mikołaj Kaczmarek. The photographs presented here come from collections of, among others, the Warsaw Rising Museum, the Polish Press Agency, the KARTA Center as well as private collections. They are part of an exhibition prepared by the IPN’s National Education Office entitled “Warsaw Uprising 1944. Battle for Poland”.

Artist Mikołaj Kaczmarek from Gostyń, Wielkopolska, has spent years painstakingly recreating some of the key moments of the Uprising. Now the breath-taking colorized images have earned his Facebook page, Mikołaj Kaczmarek – Kolor Historii, over 54K followers, who are drawn by the shocking immediacy that color brings to people and scenes that have been known only in black and white.

However, Kaczmarek admitted that his interest in history came as a surprise to him. “I was never particularly interested in history. In fact I nearly didn’t complete the year on two occasions.”

Kaczmarek first became interested in photo colorization when he saw the film Warsaw Rising, which told the story of the battle using colorized footage. “The film made a huge impact on me,” he told The First News. “They lived in a time of apocalypse and whether they wanted to or not they had to fight and they often died. The colorization made me realize that they were people just like us, they just happened to live at that time.”

“The first photo I tried was the girl next to a grave. When I finished, I was in shock – the past just came right out at me. You might see an image of a pretty girl that looks like it was taken a week ago, but she fought in the war and died,” he added.

The Warsaw uprising began on August 1, 1944 at 5 p.m. That moment is now named in the Polish history as “Godzina W” (the W hour) with W standing for Warsaw.

Approximately 45,000 members of the AK under commandment of general Antoni Chruściel “Monter” joined the combat. They were supported by 2,500 soldiers from other resistance movements, such as the National Armed Forces (Narodowe Siły Zbrojne, NSZ) and the communist People's Army (Armia Ludowa, AL). Only a quarter of the partisans had access to weapons, fighting against 25,000 German soldiers equipped with artillery, tanks, and air forces.

Within the first few days of the uprising, Polish forces took over several districts of Warsaw, including downtown and the Old Town. After the initial success of the AK, German troops gradually recaptured the city. They surrounded the Old Town and other areas. On September 2, after more than two weeks of combat, the last Polish soldiers left the Old Town through the sewers. Warsaw’s historical district was turned into ruins. In mid-September, the Red Army took Praga, the district of Warsaw on the east bank of the Vistula River, but did not cross the river to intervene.

Towards the end of September 1944, German forces took control over further parts of Warsaw, systematically destroying most of the city to the ground. On October 2, 1944, the uprising ended. The number of victims exceeded 180,000 people. More than 11,000 AK soldiers were captured as prisoners of war, including “Bór” and “Monter.” Soviet troops resumed their offensive much later, liberating devastated Warsaw on January 17, 1945.

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