Eighteen-year-old Hugo Booth got more than he expected when he bought a combat helmet from a charity shop auction on the British Channel Island of Guernsey.
Graffiti on the helmet insert reads "Rupp" on the front, and on the back the words "Vote Nixon" are written around a classic 1960s peace symbol. Nixon was running for the 1969 presidential election around the same time Rupp was in the military. Nixon vowed that if elected, he would bring American servicemembers home.
Private First Class Jefferey David Rupp was drafted in June 1968 for his eight-week basic training at Fort Polk, La., where many soldiers were prepared for the Vietnam War.
After deployment to Vietnam on Thanksgiving Day, he faced an intensified war with more aggressive fighting, higher casualty rates and increasing anti-war sentiment back home.
In early 1969, the 101st Airborne was involved in patrols around what was called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). On Jan. 15, about 20 kilometers in from the coast within the DMZ, Pfc. Jeffrey David Rupp stood on a landmine only 46 days into his 12-month tour of duty. He survived the initial blast but died aboard the hospital ship USS Repose on Friday, Jan. 17, 1969.
Three days later, Richard Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States, on the ticket to end the war, which Rupp never lived to see. His obituary appeared in his local Wisconsin newspaper, the Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, on the same day. His family also received notification of his death on the same day as his last letter home.

Hugo’s elder brother, Jack, was the same age as Pfc. Rupp when he found the helmet. "Having an elder brother the same age as Rupp when he was killed," said Hugo, "brings it closer to home for me, seeing Jack’s whole life ahead of him. I cannot imagine anyone being in that kind of terrifying situation and not coming home."
Hugo said after researching the graffiti, "I think it is only fair to return the helmet to Rupp’s family in Wisconsin and I am now in contact with Jeffrey Rupp’s sister, Christine, who really wants her brother’s helmet back."
Rupp’s remains were buried in his hometown of Fond du Lac County in Wisconsin. Hugo is planning to visit the U.S. in August to personally give Rupp’s helmet to Christine.
He concluded, "To me, if items or memorabilia have connections to the people who are still living, if it has been personalized in some way, it should be returned to the family. They are the rightful owners."