His hat collection spans 100 years of military
 

Johnny Sparks is a hat man. Whenever you see him, he’s usually sporting an Amish-style wide brimmed hat that he has reshaped to give a Western look. His hat collection has had as many as 200 or 300 hats in it at one time. Today, the cream of the collection hangs high in a corner of his Blount Avenue store, Unclaimed Storage LLC. The hats and helmets in it span every major war fought by the United States from World War I to the present. “Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t try to buy one of those hats,“ said Johnny’s son Seth, who runs the business. Those particular hats aren’t for sale. The hats hang in something of a chronological order. The first one in the corner is a “campaign hat“ like those worn by World War I era soldiers. Mr. Sparks bought it at an Army surplus store in South Carolina when he was in the service himself back in the 1960s. “I know I’ve had it 40 years and it might be closer to 50,“ he said. “It’s a John B. Stetson. I know it’s pre-World War II and I think it’s closer to World War I.“ Next to it is a Vietnam-era bush or jungle hat. A Desert Storm era hat is next to it and a modern era military hat is next to it. The next few items are really interesting. There’s a liner from a World War II “steel pot“ helmet. A Russian Air Force hat hangs next to it. “My daughter Kayren found it for me in either Washington or Alaska,“ Mr. Sparks said. A Korean-era Marine helmet is next. A prized piece of the collection is an actual Nazi army helmet from World War II. “My son Stewart gave it to me,“ Mr. Sparks said. “His grandfather-in-law was a colonel in charge of a POW camp during the war and he brought a lot of German stuff home.“

There’s also an Italian helmet from World War II. “I was good friends with a sergeant when I was stationed at Ft. Benning,“ Mr. Sparks said. “He made 3 combat jumps in World War II and this helmet was one of his souvenirs. He gave it to me because I admired it so much.“ There’s a World War I steel “doughboy“ helmet Mr. Sparks acquired many years ago, also at an Army surplus store. One of the more interesting items is a World War II aviator’s cap that Mr. Sparks got from a Hell’s Angels biker in California. “I was working and living in San Diego in the late 1960s,“ he said. “These 2 guys on motorcycles zoomed by me and I saw the hat and followed them.“ They stopped at a bar and Mr. Sparks stopped too. He got a table a short distance from the men. He struck up a conversation with them and asked the owner of the cap what he would take for it. “He said, ’You really want this cap, huh?’“ Mr. Sparks said. “I told him that I did.“ The biker said neither he nor his friend had a penny and they wanted a beer. He said if Mr. Sparks would buy them a pitcher of beer, he could have the cap. “I bought them 2 pitchers, got the cap and got the hell out of there,“ he said. “I was scared to death. A pitcher of beer only cost $1 back then, so that cap cost me $2.“