Subdeacon Joe Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 “Today marks the 77th anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy landings. To mark the occasion, here’s one of the most powerful items in our @/raunerlibrary Special Collections: a helmet belonging to Clinton Gardner in ‘44, which remains the most damaged helmet whose wearer survived his wounds. On June 6, 1944, Gardner, a Lieutenant in the artillery, found himself digging a foxhole on Omaha Beach during the initial invasion. The landing area was strewn with bodies and the Germans were raking the incoming allied forces with artillery and machine gun fire. An incoming round suddenly exploded in front of Gardner. His head snapped back and then a curtain of blood blinded him. When he reached up and felt his helmet, there was a gaping hole large enough that he could get two hands into it. Gingerly, he felt around and found that he could feel a soft, mushy surface that he assumed must be his brain. Unable to walk or speak properly, Gardner watched as his unit packed up and began to move inland. The other officers told him that they would send medics back for him. After 23 hours wounded on the beach, a group of medics finally arrived and moved Gardner and the others to a field hospital. There, Gardner made the happy discovery that what he had felt through the gash in his helmet was not his brain, but badly lacerated scalp tissue. Though his skull was scarred, it was not broken. Getting the helmet off was another matter. It took doctors and a fair amount of pulling and twisting as the edges had curled in and were embedded in his scalp. Eventually Gardner was sent back to England to recover, but that was not the end of the war for him.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 wow - cant believe he survived that let alone went on to fight more , lots were not so fortunate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 3 hours ago, watab kid said: wow - cant believe he survived that let alone went on to fight more , lots were not so fortunate He did not go on to fight more. That was the end of the war for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 "Eventually Gardner was sent back to England to recover, but that was not the end of the war for him.” The above is the last sentence in the story for what its worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Some additional info - and that was not the end of the war for him. https://www.vnews.com/Clinton-Gardner-A-Life-13187603 LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 And as a helmet collector, that looks like an early low pressurre fiber liners which are worth a pretty penny on their own. This one is of course, priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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