Marion,
I love the show. I'm so glad that it is still aired along with "Galant Men", which takes place in Italy.
Here is another great link:
This site has forums, bloopers and names of all the episodes. Good info to get you motivated to watch it more closely. AND the forum answers Jiggers question.
Quoting from Forum:
Answer:1) Because it's not a Marine helmet. It's a standard issue helmet that has Camoflage parachute silk over it. This was something that soldiers in Normandy were known to do -- photos from the period exist of this addition soldiers made to their standard issue.
2) It makes it easier to keep track of Saunders in the battle sequences.
Another reader stated:
As a child, the "urban myths" to explain this error were as follows:1. Sgt Saunders was supposed to have been prior service Marine Corps and had been sent to Europe because he was either in the Philippines or Pearl Harbor when they were attacked. He had a grudge against the Japanese, so he was transferred to the Army in Europe.
2. Sgt. Saunders' brother was a Marine, who was killed in the Pacific, and brother Chip is wearing his "colors" in tribute.
3. Vic Morrow was,himself, a Marine and decided to wear it, despite its being incongruous, because it looked "cool."
Several points. First of all, the helmet camo cover that Saunders had was a genuine Army issue... same as mine was when I was in in the late 1970s... so, that's where it came from in reality. In point of fact, there are indeed pictures of ETO GIs with camo covers on their helmets, although generally of a different pattern, ie. something from the 1940s, not the 1960s (as it was then-current issue). Interestingly, in one episode, Kirby ends up wearing the helmet belonging to last season regular William Bryant (McCall), who wore a wide "rubber band" cut from a tire inner tube around it to hold foliage, etc. Sometimes, even the prop and wardrobe people screw up... only you didn't hear that from me!!!
As I understand it, camo uniforms were also issued to ARMY units but were quickly discarded by the troops themselves because of their similarity to Waffen SS camo uniforms, and the fact that soooo many mixups occured (i.e. friendly fire). I dont think the Army had to ban them - nobody wanted to wear them!
Then it finally ends with someone summing up that it was a way that Hollywood would make Vic Morrow's character stand out from the others.
Reference Source: "U.S. Combat Helmets of the 20th Century" (September 1997), ISBN 0-7643-0357-0, Hardcover with 108 pages including over 250 photographs, $39.95 from Schiffer Publishing.
Steve