Like the soldiers who fought in World War II, most of the men and women who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War in the ’60s and ’70s were remarkably young, between the ages of 18 and 25. Those who volunteered to man the primary aircraft of the war, the helicopter, put their lives at a risk every day they were on tour. As a result, their commanding officers were often willing to look the other way when the pilots, gunners, and other crew members had their helmets painted in bright colors with their girlfriend’s name; their call sign or unit insignia; their favorite rock bands or comic-book characters; or mascots from their hometowns, in much the same way World War II pilots painted their leather A-2 flight jackets.
Perhaps most interesting are the helmets painted with ironic or dead-serious anti-war messages, as well as the prevalence of stars-and-stripes helmets, which at first glance may seem like obvious patriotic riffs on the flag and the popular Nazi-smashing comic superhero Captain America. But there was another rebellious “Captain America” known for his stars-and-stripes helmet that young men idolized in 1969—the motorcycle-riding hippie played by Peter Fonda in the film “Easy Rider,” who imports illicit drugs from Mexico, mingles at a commune, patronizes a brothel, and freaks out on acid.
We talked to John Conway, a military aviation collector who runs The Legacy of Valor website for the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Museum, a Collectors Weekly Hall of Fame site. Conway graduated from high school just after the fall of Saigon in 1975, which brought the war to an end. Because of that, he never enlisted, but he’s always admired the bravery of the men and women who served in times of war. For years, Conway’s been collecting these helmets and, more importantly to him, the stories of the servicemen who wore them.
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