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Milwaukie High School's VIIth annual Living History Day, Milwaukie high School (6 November, 2002)


Sam Kimpton and Andrew Reed set up an artifact display at Milwaukie High School for their VIIth annual Living History Day Observance.

The program is set up much like a conference with various sessions featuring presentations given by veterans occuring in different locations on the school campus throughout the day.

In addition to helping with the dislay Andrew Reed assisted with one of these presentations, given by 504th Pathfinder Bill Wood.

A number of Airborne vets saw our display and names were added to our list of interviewees for our oral history project.

One of these men, a member of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (as well as a qualified military jumper) showed us the helmet which he wore up into the Ardennes campaign. It had the standard "playing card" tactical markings for the 327th, a small white clubs sign, with a tick for the first battalion. More notable about this helmet was the present of bullet entrance and exit holes.

He was wearing the helmet early one morning during the initial stages of an assault outside of Bastogne when he was hit by a German 8 mm round which pentrated the helmet shell above his right temple, the projectile traveled around the outside of the helmet liner shredding it and exited from the right rear quadrent of the helmet. The incident also cut a crease in his scalp (he had the scar to prove it) and rendered him unconsious.

We reflected that this was probably a blessing in disguise as it probably saved his life. Several other men were killed in the assault.


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