North Vietnamese Army 3rd Generation Sun Helmet with Shrapnel Stuck Inside, Brass Badge, Date and Name

A textbook example of the standard issue NVA sun helmet. Note the twill cotton cover, the purple glue holding the exterior band to the shell, the all-aluminum hardware, leather chinstrap, pink primer on the M shaped suspension washers, purple tie cord in the headband etc.

As you can see, the sun helmet has an original NVA brass and enamel sun helmet badge. This is how the sun helmet was received. We have not removed it. We did unscrew it slightly, and can see a shadow consistent with this badge having been on this helmet during infiltration.

This helmet also has the infiltration date written on the outside of the brim. This date indicates that the north Vietnamese soldier left from the north to begin infiltration on February 13, 1968. He was likely sent down south as the Tet Offensive was underway as a replacement soldier. The infiltration date is often found on the sun helmets. This date was used as a marker so that the North Vietnamese soldier would know how long he had been on his journey south, or fighting in the south.

On the interior of the sweatband, the NVA soldier has written his name “Tiem” on all four sides in three different colors of ink. In addition, a Vietnamese name was written on the exterior of the brim.

This sun helmet still has a few pieces of shrapnel stuck inside the brim. Several small pieces entered from the exterior and are still stuck in the cardboard as you can see. There is no chin strap on the sun helmet. Perhaps the chin strap was down and worn under the chin. At the time the shrapnel hit the helmet and simultaneously blew the helmet off of the North Vietnamese soldiers head. Of course, it could’ve simply fallen off over time.