This is the standard summer issue flight helmet with bill, size 6 7/8. The chin strap and goggle retention straps are present as well as the snaps. The interior is hand marked in ink with the name "LT. T. W. SHACKELFORD/SELFRIDGE FIELD-MICH." Includes a period knitted balaclava worn under the flight helmet. In 1917, Selfridge Field in Michigan became one of nine Army Air Service airfields in the United States. Training of pilots began three months after the U.S. entered World War I. By the end of the war 72 pilots and 700 mechanics had been trained with an additional 1,002 men attending gunnery school. After the war the airfield became the home of the 1st Pursuit Group, which was the first air combat group formed by the Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, and continues to operate as the USAF's oldest major air combat unit. Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt was a member of the 95th Aero Squadron in the 1st Pursuit Group and remains the only child of a U.S. president killed in combat. Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection

Fine, with supple leather, some typical wear, and overall tight stitching. A great piece of World War I aviation memorabilia worn by an aviator who trained in Michigan.