why did soldiers put cards in their helmets
Ace of spades Some twenty years later, a folk legend about the ace of spades being used by American Soldiers during the Vietnam War was popularized. Supposedly, US troops believed that Vietnamese traditions held the symbolism of the spade to mean death and ill-fortune and in a bid to frighten and demoralize Viet Cong soldiers, it was common practice to mockingly leave an ace of spades on the bodies of killed Vietnamese and even to litter the forested grounds and fields with the card.[citation needed] This custom was said to be so effective that the United States Playing Card Company was asked by Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment to supply crates of that single card in bulk. The crates were often marked with "Bicycle Secret Weapon".[8][unreliable source?] The ace of spades, while not a symbol of superstitious fear to the Viet Cong forces, did help the morale of American soldiers. It was not unheard of for US Soldiers and Marines to stick this card in their helmet band as a sort of anti-peace sign.[citation needed]
Andrey Kivilev After Kivilev's death, the UCI made the wearing of helmets compulsory.[11] They had previously tried to introduce this requirement in 1991, but some riders protested this at the Parisâ€“Nice race, so the rule was not introduced. The nature of Kivilev's death, in that he was a lead rider, in one of the top French cycling teams, racing in a top stage race, coupled with advances in helmet technology, brought the debate back to the fore and conclusively so for the UCI. Whilst many riders were initially still against compulsory helmet use, the UCI ensured the rules requiring helmets to be worn at all times would be in place for the 2003 Giro d'Italia, which started just eight weeks after Kivilev's death. Dissension to the rule was initially high, but the new rules were affirmed in October 2003. Whilst at first the rule was loose and not tightly enforced, especially on mountain-top finishes, it has since been enforced more strictly and helmet-wearing is now ubiquitous in the peloton.