The knife that saved the Iraq War's first living Medal of Honor recipient

In 1939 Joseph Gerber (advertising agency owner) had custom knife maker David Murphy make 24 sets of carving knife for some of his select customers. Catalog retailer Abercrombie & Fitch saw them and was so impressed with the quality of the knives they wanted to sell them. Thus was born Gerber Legendary Blades.
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RevolverGuy
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The knife that saved the Iraq War's first living Medal of Honor recipient

Post by RevolverGuy »

I came across this great article today and just wanted to share with you guys. You can read about the knife that saved Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia, the first living Iraq War veteran to receive the Medal of Honor.
https://taskandpurpose.com/gear-tech/ge ... d-bellavia

For those who may not want to click the link I will copy and paste some of the article here for you to read.
Bellavia was awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of his heroic actions of Nov. 10, 2004, when he killed five enemy fighters during a chaotic battle inside an enemy-held house during the second battle of Fallujah, rescuing an entire squad in the process.

But according to Bellavia, he likely wouldn't have made it out alive had it not been for his knife.

During a Monday roundtable, Bellavia described engaging enemy fighters inside the dark house full of propane tanks and plastic explosives, first with his M4 carbine and then with an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

But after killing four insurgents, Bellavia was confronted by a wounded fighter who engaged him in hand-to-hand combat, forcing the soldier to pull out his Gerber Rex Applegate folding knife and kill him. The Gerber Applegate combat folding knife with a serrated edge.
gerber_applegate.png
Here's how Bellavia described the encounter in a 2006 oral history of second battle of Fallujah:

"I was covering his mouth, telling him to shut up. His breath was horrible, just stale, nasty breath. The moral of the story is that the dude bites my left hand near the thumb knuckle through my glove. I open up my SAPI plate and hit him with the inside of my vest. He's screaming, there are people screaming downstairs and I have no composure at all. This is not a John Rambo moment. I'm really scared. I stand up and he digs into my leg with his fingers. I'm looking for my Rex Applegate Gerber knife: not a multi-tool, just a serious blade. I go to reach for it and he puts his teeth — I don't wear underwear and he bites me right in the genital region. ..."

"I don't know if he thought I was going to give him mercy, but in the struggle my Velcro knife case slid off my belt and was now on the ground next to his head. I hear someone yell down from above me in a panic. The man underneath me yells back. The more I put pressure on his left arm the more he goes limp. I flick my blade to the side and it snaps to the ready. I had never stabbed anyone before so I went down on him with a stabbing motion. I lost the grip on the knife and it went right across the base of my right pinkie finger. As soon as I let it go, a hot wave hit me and it smelled like rust. I put one hand on his mouth and other under his chin and just started to push like I was giving him CPR. The stream only got powerful when I pushed down and it opened up. I fell over and was completely exhausted."
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jerryd6818
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Re: The knife that saved the Iraq War's first living Medal of Honor recipient

Post by jerryd6818 »

Real hand to hand sure ain't the way Chuck Norris did it. Now that right there, folks, is a real warrior!!!
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Re: The knife that saved the Iraq War's first living Medal of Honor recipient

Post by Colonel26 »

Amen! That’s a warrior for sure.
“There are things in the old Book which I may not be able to explain, but I fully accept it as the infallible word of God, and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
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Re: The knife that saved the Iraq War's first living Medal of Honor recipient

Post by 1967redrider »

Can't imagine being in a situation like that, hope I never am. ::pray:: At least he had the right tool for the job.
Pocket, fixed, machete, axe, it's all good!

You're going to look awfully silly with that knife sticking out of your @#$. -Clint Eastwood, High Plains Drifter
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Re: The knife that saved the Iraq War's first living Medal of Honor recipient

Post by Paladin »

Yes Sir!! Salute! And a big thank you! ::handshake::

Ray
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