Original German WWI U.S. 32nd Division-Captured Splotch Camouflage-Painted M16 Stahlhelm Helmet Sent Home by Distinguished Service Cross & Croix de Guerre Recipient Sergeant Ted Gariepy - Outstanding

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. It isn’t often that we find a helmet that seems to “check all the boxes”. This outstanding M1916 Stahlhelm which was painted with an outstanding Splotch camouflage pattern following the July 1918 Ludendorff Camouflage directive, then “de-milled” and captured by Sergeant Theodore Gariepy, Company C, 125th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division and sent home to a friend. Sergeant Gariepy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for actions taken on August 1st, 1918. His DSC Citation reads:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Theodore T. Gariepy, Corporal, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action east of Bois-des-Grimpettes, near Cierges, northeast of Chateau-Thierry, France, August 1, 1918. When two companies of another organization deployed in a field, a violent artillery fire was directed on them, necessitating their moving into an adjoining wood, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. Corporal Gariepy, with a party of five men, left the woods and directed the work of carrying the wounded to a safe spot, where they could be given medical attention. He directed this work under heavy fire and with an utter disregard for his own life.

His Croix de Guerre citation reads:

On August 1, 1918, near Cierges, seeing a great number of wounded exposed on open ground, he directed their evacuation to a sheltered spot. He displayed the greatest coolness and an absolute indifference to danger.

Four days later, on August 5th, 1918, Gariepy was severely wounded, warranting the army to declare him 25% Disabled.

The helmet is painted with a gorgeous splotch camouflage pattern of greens and browns, roughly 75% retained, and attached over this camo to the rear is a gorgeous and intact mail-home label with the two stamps still attached! The label denotes that the helmet is being sent to Mr. Bill Sullivan, 681 Porter St., Detroit, Michigan, and that it was sent by a Sergeant Ted, but the last name is cut off by the stamps. Below this is the “OK” marking by the soldier’s commanding officer, declaring the helmet as okay to send home. Thankfully, there is a second label on the interior rim, and this clearly shows the sender as Sergeant Ted Gariepy, U.S. Army. This identifies the helmet to Sergeant Theodore Gariepy, Company C, 125th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division.

There is a hole made directly on the crown of the helmet, which is often misinterpreted as shrapnel damage. This is actually the result of the helmet’s “de-milling”, where a pickaxe was driven through the helmet to render it unusable. Thankfully, the hole is small and does not detract from the gorgeous camouflage paint job. 

The shell is faintly stamped F.B.62, which is a very rare variation of the “B.F.62” marking. This indicates that F.C. Bellinger of Fulda manufactured it. This company made shells in sizes 62 and 64 for the war effort. There is a rolling mill mark beginning with R, but the rest is cut off by the de-milling hole at the crown of the helmet. Despite this, the R indicates that the steel was made by Stahlwerk Röchling, Volkingen.

The helmet retains its original M16 leather liner band as well as two of the original liner pads. The retained pads are in rough condition and have heavy leather loss. Additionally, all three liner split pins are retained, but they and the liner band are all a bit loose to the helmet. 

There are also some large dents to the helmet, namely on both sides of the front visor, which may be from combat. 

This is without a doubt one of the most fascinating and well-preserved mail-home helmets we have ever offered, made only more significant by the sender’s receipt of the Distinguished Service Cross and Croix de Guerre. This will certainly become the centerpiece of any M1916 Camouflage Helmet or 32nd Division AEF Collection.

Comes ready for further research and display!