US Soldier (WWII)

At the beginning of WWII the troops of the US Army were some of the most under equipped soldiers of the nations that were considered military powers. Still using gear from the Great World War, most notably the Brodie Helmet, which was replaced by the iconic M1 Steel Helmet some time after the attack on Pearl Harbor and some time before the US armed forces first offensive against the Axis Powers at the Battle of Guadalcanal.
American soldiers were the only soldiers to be given a semi automatic rifle as standard issue until a few years after World War Two when the Soviets introduced the SKS Semi auto rifle, which was quickly replaced by a select fire assault rifle known as the Kalashnikov AK-47.