Vietnam Knife Story - From my Father

[centennialknives]

I thought I'd share this story told a few times to me and my brother from our Dad, who passed in 2014 (brain cancer BTW) at age 62. I'm posting this in mostly true stories...though I believe it without a doubt...only because we can hear just one side. It's one of just a small handful of stories from his time in Vietnam, and the only one dealing with combat.

The first time we heard this story, which never changed, was when I was about 12 years old and Dad was cleaning the knife. I had never seen it before, nor knew of its existence. It was a fixed blade, stag handle knife, I'm guessing about 12 inches total length. It was old, worn, and I was in awe. My younger brother was right behind me, and we asked where that came from. Dad was in Vietnam, and to this day I wish I knew where this happened. He told us some of the men were sitting outside tents, cleaning their guns, eating, tired from a long day. My dad noted he had just pants on, no boots or socks, and no shirt. I don't recall every detail he gave us, but it's the ending that really hits. Suddenly, they were being fired upon and before long, my father was out of ammo, and separated from his unit. An enemy approached, with said knife in hand. My dad had only his rifle, empty, no bayonet. His final words for this story were, "It was him or me. He had the knife. Now I have the knife."

Today, the knife belongs to my younger brother, who had the foresight to ask Dad for it. My father was not a ranger, just an 18 year old draftee who most likely was scared out of his mind, and with enough adrenaline and the desire to live, he made it through. He was never able to watch Rambo or anything related to the war. Most folks he met over the years never knew he was in Vietnam, until about 2 years before his death, when we found out about the brain cancer. At that point, he talked about his time there, and most of it we've got on DVD via simple recording with handheld JVC unit.

[Samb]

I would really like to see anything you want to share.

[centennialknives]

Well, Samb, I can share a few photos. The video is hard...I've only seen it once because it's not easy to get thru, and it's him at the end of his life, head swollen from fluids, and not as how we like to remember him.

Circa 1999 -- Mt. Rushmore, that's me on the left and Dad on the right (other folks were just other tourists). We rode out to the Sturgis motorcycle rally, and mostly saw the sights that week. Me on my Harley Davidson Electraglide, and him on his Honda Goldwing. Was a great father son trip...tent camping all the way.

Circa 2002 to 2004 (?) The pic of him about to go fishing is typical. He ALWAYS had a fishing pole on that bike (and the bike that came after). Always.

Lastly, where he rests today at a family plot.

[btrwtr]

Nice pictures and stories. Thanks for posting.

[SwedgeHead]

"He had the knife, now I have the knife" .

9 words in themselves a story.

[eveled]

"He had the knife, now I have the knife" .

9 words in themselves a story.

Leaves a lot of room for you to imagine what actually happened. Wouldn’t it be funny if he traded a pack of cigarettes and a chocolate bar for it? Lol.

Thanks for sharing about your dad. Men like him made this country great. I’m sorry for your loss.

[jerryd6818]

Circa 1999 -- Mt. Rushmore, that's me on the left

Did you work at Caterpillar?

[centennialknives]

Circa 1999 -- Mt. Rushmore, that's me on the left

Did you work at Caterpillar?

Sure did. 1994 to 2015, when the company got rid of my entire department. First half of my career was writing technical manuals for the engines and machines -- loved that job -- had a toolbox, a computer, a stall, and had 6 months to tear down, rebuild, photograph and write the ins/outs of repair and replacement. LOVED IT. In 2004, I was pulled in to help a guy develop a better way to manage manufacturing capacity in the company...in short, 2 of us became 15, and we located, built, expanded, and created investments for Caterpillar manufacturing. But, in 2015, we were all let go. HQ moved from Peoria to Chicago, then Texas. It hurt. Bigtime -- not just for me, but Peoria.

I'm with Belcan Engineering now, based out of Cincinnati. I'm doing engineering work for Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezo's owned space company in Seattle and Florida. 7+ years with Belcan, and let me tell you, life is much better.

[centennialknives]

"He had the knife, now I have the knife" .

9 words in themselves a story.

Leaves a lot of room for you to imagine what actually happened. Wouldn’t it be funny if he traded a pack of cigarettes and a chocolate bar for it? Lol.

Thanks for sharing about your dad. Men like him made this country great. I’m sorry for your loss.

Ha! Yes, sounds like the plot to a Seinfeld episode, there. But, given he wanted to wash the whole thing off and ignore pop culture regarding Vietnam (read that as movies, TV, etc.) tells me there is truth there. What exactly beyond those words, I'll never know.

[jerryd6818]

Circa 1999 -- Mt. Rushmore, that's me on the left

Did you work at Caterpillar?

Sure did. 1994 to 2015, when the company got rid of my entire department. First half of my career was writing technical manuals for the engines and machines -- loved that job -- had a toolbox, a computer, a stall, and had 6 months to tear down, rebuild, photograph and write the ins/outs of repair and replacement. LOVED IT. In 2004, I was pulled in to help a guy develop a better way to manage manufacturing capacity in the company...in short, 2 of us became 15, and we located, built, expanded, and created investments for Caterpillar manufacturing. But, in 2015, we were all let go. HQ moved from Peoria to Chicago, then Texas. It hurt. Bigtime -- not just for me, but Peoria.

I'm with Belcan Engineering now, based out of Cincinnati. I'm doing engineering work for Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezo's owned space company in Seattle and Florida. 7+ years with Belcan, and let me tell you, life is much better.

My favorite Cousin retired from the Decatur plant. He was a maintenance man of some sort. He served in Viet Nam with the Army in '66-'67 down in Qui Nhơn (I believe so don't take that for gospel) in some kind of maintenance billet. I came back the first week in September and he shipped after he got married in October.

[eveled]

"He had the knife, now I have the knife" .

9 words in themselves a story.

Leaves a lot of room for you to imagine what actually happened. Wouldn’t it be funny if he traded a pack of cigarettes and a chocolate bar for it? Lol.

Thanks for sharing about your dad. Men like him made this country great. I’m sorry for your loss.

Ha! Yes, sounds like the plot to a Seinfeld episode, there. But, given he wanted to wash the whole thing off and ignore pop culture regarding Vietnam (read that as movies, TV, etc.) tells me there is truth there. What exactly beyond those words, I'll never know.

I in no way meant to imply he wasn’t being truthful.

Just that he left out details so you drew the obvious conclusions. I was just offering an alternate ending that still fit the details he gave.

I’m quite certain your version is the correct one. I can also see why he wouldn’t want to share the details with anyone. We ask our soldiers to do things that they have to live with forever. The hope is that they find a way to find peace.

I understand it is not in your procession but for what it’s worth I’d love to see a picture of the knife.

Thanks for sharing.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Thanks for sharing that story. I have been trying to get the veterans who served in theaters of combat to share their experiences. Even tried to get a man from one of churches to share on video, but he wouldn’t. He served in WWII in Europe. There to liberate concentration camps, battle of the bulge and many other experiences. He would always clam up after a certain point and stop sharing. My wife’s father was the same. He served in the Pacific during WWII and came close to death many times but would only share the briefest of details. It’s sad that so many have passed on and have never shared what they did to serve our country and protect our freedoms. I hope more people will see this and share their stories.

[centennialknives]

[/quote]

I in no way meant to imply he wasn’t being truthful.

Just that he left out details so you drew the obvious conclusions. I was just offering an alternate ending that still fit the details he gave.

I’m quite certain your version is the correct one. I can also see why he wouldn’t want to share the details with anyone. We ask our soldiers to do things that they have to live with forever. The hope is that they find a way to find peace.

I understand it is not in your procession but for what it’s worth I’d love to see a picture of the knife.

Thanks for sharing.
[/quote]

Oh, I know what you mean -- a lot is left to the imagination. And yes, after sharing that story, I'd love to see it again myself and document it with a few pics. I'll be asking my brother today so hopefully a pic or two will be forthcoming.

Another tidbit -- there is a local VFW in our town, and a local "Vietnam Veterans of Illinois", which I don't think is a national or state thing. Anyway, the VVofI constantly tried to get Dad to join. He was one of many in the area that just wanted nothing to do with it. And yet he was friends/knew most of the guys there anyway. Once in awhile, we'd hear about of one of the members "going crazy" (1980's terminology) -- today we'd call it PTSD.

Tidbit 2: My mother and father knew each other since they were 12 or so, growing up in same neighborhood. They dated before he was drafted (he was couple years older), wrote letters to each other during his time there, and upon his return, got engaged and then married a year or so after his return. She said, for the first time ever after he passed, as we talked about him, that he was "different" upon his return from the war. She said he was more quiet, could get angry quick, but as a kid, he was just Dad. Note I was born after he returned, so I've only known him one way. Interesting to note as well, that while he loved America, he NEVER went to Independence Day celebrations -- fireworks made him nervous (my words). So maybe he had PTSD from the war in general. But he kept it in and did a LOT of fishing!

[centennialknives]

And here it is...I didn't realize it was an Anton Wingen, Solingen Germany knife! I never looked at the tang stamp -- but last time I saw it was maybe 20 years ago. My brother provided the pic just now -- and promised to let me see it in person at our next family gathering.

Funny thing is when I started reading posts on AAPK, and hit the "mostly true stories" forum, is when I thought about it and shared the story. Now I'm finding out more about the knife itself.

[3030remchesterCOLO]

Reminds me of my uncle who was with Patton in Europe. He had in his collection, 3 German knives. When I asked where he had acquired them and his reply was "the guys I got them from, didn't need it anymore".