Green Beret Yarborough knives?

[damcon3]

Are there any Chris reeve Yarborough knives, the ones actually awarded to green berets, not the commercially available equivalent, in private collections? If so what are they worth?

[vintageproductions]

I have a two digit serial numbered one with all the paperwork.

[tsellati]

I have a two digit serial numbered one with all the paperwork.

 

Wow, I cannot believe a Green Beret parted with his knife. If I were one and had one that is the last thing I would part with.

 

Tim

[riflegreen297]

Wow, I cannot believe a Green Beret parted with his knife. If I were one and had one that is the last thing I would part with.

 

Tim

 

I usually hold my comments on these types of things. But 9 times out of 10 the issued Yarborough knives that come up like this are sold by those individuals that we have kicked out of The SF Regiment and usually the Army also. These individuals usually had/have alot of discipline issues or you name it. So who would really want one from a turd whether he was SF at one time or not? I guess if you just wanted to say you have one I suppose. I graduated the Q Course way before they started giving out knives. Personally, I think the money for the Yarborough knives could be better spent else where.

[Still-A-Marine]

Can someone post a picture of one?

 

Bill

[SKIPH]

Back when the JFK Museum started selling the Yarborough knife, I looked into buying one. I got the paperwork from the museum, and asked to see an example. They had none. It was an interesting process (please correct me if I,m wrong). As I recall you had to fill out the application, provide a diploma, SWC verified your graduation date, then cut an authorization for you to buy the knife. You then went to the museum, they ordered the knife, you shelled out $350 ( I think that was price), and you waited until it came in. At some point they etched a serial number on the blade, and it was your knife for life. As I remember you signed an agreement never to sell it. Due to the large collector demand. I finally got to see one a friend had, and decided I didn't want to order one. Just wasn't that impressed, had othr knives I wanted more. SKIP

[vintageproductions]

Mine belogned to an Advisor to El Salvador in the 80's.

He went back to the msueum and supplied all his info and paperwork to order one, like SKIPH said.

One day he came in to see me and brought all of his stuff (which is shown here on the Forum) and his Yarborough knife in the box with all the paperwork. He said he just wanted to keep it all together and knew I would.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22053-us-special-forces-group-from-el-salvador/page__hl__salvador

[riflegreen297]

Back when the JFK Museum started selling the Yarborough knife, I looked into buying one. I got the paperwork from the museum, and asked to see an example. They had none. It was an interesting process (please correct me if I,m wrong). As I recall you had to fill out the application, provide a diploma, SWC verified your graduation date, then cut an authorization for you to buy the knife. You then went to the museum, they ordered the knife, you shelled out $350 ( I think that was price), and you waited until it came in. At some point they etched a serial number on the blade, and it was your knife for life. As I remember you signed an agreement never to sell it. Due to the large collector demand. I finally got to see one a friend had, and decided I didn't want to order one. Just wasn't that impressed, had othr knives I wanted more. SKIP

 

Yep, this is how the old guys get them if they want one. The new guys get them presented to them during graduation and sign a handreceipt for them.

[riflegreen297]

Mine belogned to an Advisor to El Salvador in the 80's.

He went back to the msueum and supplied all his info and paperwork to order one, like SKIPH said.

One day he came in to see me and brought all of his stuff (which is shown here on the Forum) and his Yarborough knife in the box with all the paperwork. He said he just wanted to keep it all together and knew I would.

 

http://www.usmilitar...e__hl__salvador

 

This is the 1 out of 10. Unlike some guys, I personally don't care what the guys that get them issued do at graduation with theirs. But just so everyone knows that generally the ones seen on gunbroker, craigslist, etc fall into the catergory as described up top or are the chinese copies that have been showing up.

[riflegreen297]

This is the 1 out of 10. Unlike some, I personally don't care what the guys do with their graduation knives. But for common knowledge, generally the serial numbered Yarb knives that show up on gunbroker, craigslist, etc fall into the catergory as described in my post above or are chinese copies that have been showing up.

 

 

I apologize for the lack of proper sentence structure. I must remember to never type a post after a long day at work, while intermittenly falling asleep on the couch. Also, I never intended in any way for my post to cast any doubt on VP's Yarb Knife. The Former Action Guy (FAG)/ Fat Old Guy (FOG) (as many retired SF guys refer to themselves and one another) knives fall into a completely different catergory. As FAGs/FOGs have usually served their time honorably and purchased their own knife unlike the typically young former SF'er that has found himself involuntarily seperated from the Regiment and the Army.

[hawk3370]

Are there any Chris reeve Yarborough knives, the ones actually awarded to green berets, not the commercially available equivalent, in private collections? If so what are they worth?

 

This is a new one for me, I was with the 10th SFG in 65-67 and went on to command the 1st SF Company, USAIMA at Bragg in 78. I have never heard of these knives nor have I seen one. When did they start issuing these? A picture would be nice.

As for comments about only disgraced SF soldiers parting with their goodies, I have to take issue with that. I have passed virtually all my uniforms, berets, plaques, wings, knives I carried in VN etc on to my kids and a few select friends. Not unusualy for the younguns to part with these type items as the significance is most often lost to them.

 

Maj (Ret) T. R Morris

[riflegreen297]

This is a new one for me, I was with the 10th SFG in 65-67 and went on to command the 1st SF Company, USAIMA at Bragg in 78. I have never heard of these knives nor have I seen one. When did they start issuing these? A picture would be nice.

As for comments about only disgraced SF soldiers parting with their goodies, I have to take issue with that. I have passed virtually all my uniforms, berets, plaques, wings, knives I carried in VN etc on to my kids and a few select friends. Not unusualy for the younguns to part with these type items as the significance is most often lost to them.

 

Maj (Ret) T. R Morris

 

The Green Beret/Yarborough Knife:

http://www.chrisreev.../greenberet.htm

 

Q Course Grads started receiving the Yarborough knife in AUG 2002. Again, the only point of discussion here is the Yarborough Knife. Again, almost 9 out of 10 times when a Yarborough knife is found for sale by the owner who was issued it for Q Course graduation, it is usually from some who was INVOLUNTARILY seperated from the SF Regiment and Army. I am not speaking about or of a SF Vet that decides to sale or pass on his items that he has accumilated over the years.

[e19]

 

This is a new one for me, I was with the 10th SFG in 65-67 and went on to command the 1st SF Company, USAIMA at Bragg in 78. I have never heard of these knives nor have I seen one. When did they start issuing these? A picture would be nice.

As for comments about only disgraced SF soldiers parting with their goodies, I have to take issue with that. I have passed virtually all my uniforms, berets, plaques, wings, knives I carried in VN etc on to my kids and a few select friends. Not unusualy for the younguns to part with these type items as the significance is most often lost to them.

 

Maj (Ret) T. R Morris

 

Us FOGs were made aware of it in The Drop 11 years ago. Yarborough's serial numbered up to 1000 were sold through the museum store. General Yarborough was given # 0001...A year or so ago they started offering them again with a prefix of SF.

 

[e19]

 

The knife is also part of General Yarborough's bust that is on display in the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville.

[Longhorn92]

I saw one in an auction last month at the Dallas Safari Club Show. We were asking questions about it and a buddy of mine called a friend of his who was an 18D to ask him about it.

 

He told us that the knives are signed for and do not technically belong to the soldier but to the army and thus are not supposed to ever be sold. That was my understanding, anyway. Maybe the ones issued to Q Course grads have different rules/regs pertaining to them that are different from the ones bought through the museum.

[jim_mi]

FWIW: I saw one @ a Michigan gun show awhile back (SN and Yarborough). Seller wanted $1800 for it. On a 2d pass by his tables, it was gone, and he said he'd sold it.

 

Jim

[e19]

I saw one in an auction last month at the Dallas Safari Club Show. We were asking questions about it and a buddy of mine called a friend of his who was an 18D to ask him about it.

 

He told us that the knives are signed for and do not technically belong to the soldier but to the army and thus are not supposed to ever be sold. That was my understanding, anyway. Maybe the ones issued to Q Course grads have different rules/regs pertaining to them that are different from the ones bought through the museum.

 

The regs are the same for everyone.

[vintageproductions]

Mine is numbered 0064

[hawk3370]

Thanks, for posting the pic. nice looking blade. I personally carried a M-3 during both tours in VN but most of my friends carried a Gerber of one sort or another. The only knife that I was aware of that was Id'ed to SF was the SOG knife. I retired in 88 after 25 years so was glad to hear they started with this knife around 2001, thought I might be getting more senile. They say the mind is a terrible thing to lose. Thats what I like about the forum, everyday is a learning experience, especially for us old farts.

 

Terry

[tsellati]

As I remember you signed an agreement never to sell it. Due to the large collector demand. I finally got to see one a friend had, and decided I didn't want to order one. Just wasn't that impressed, had othr knives I wanted more. SKIP

 

You are correct. I think the collector demand stems from the "history" of the knife. I too was not particularly impressed with actual knife, just with what it takes to earn one. I had occasion to actually inspect one in hand - a friend's son is an active Green Beret.

 

Tim

[RedLegGI]

My buddy graduated the Q course in August, and deployed in November. I'll shoot in a mail and ask him how acquiring the knife goes.

[e19]

It's issued at the time of graduation from the "Q"...

 

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, March 13, 2009) - Seasoned Green Berets are once again able to purchase a tangible, and serial numbered, connection to the Special Forces regiment.

 

Soldiers graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course have been presented a Green Beret, and as part of a tradition since August 2002, a knife. Not just any knife, but the Yarborough knife, a combat field knife specifically designed by renowned knife maker William Harsey – which serves as a link to the brotherhood of unconventional warriors.

 

Beginning March 15, current and former Soldiers who can prove their membership in the Special Forces Regiment will be able to once again buy their Yarborough knife through the JFK Special Warfare museum here.

 

“We are thrilled that we can again provide our brothers in the Special Forces Regiment the ability to purchase the Yarborough knife,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko, John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School commander. “This isn’t just a well-made knife; it’s an outward expression of the uniqueness of being a Green Beret and the warrior-spirit that we embody.”

 

The new batch of knives will start with serial number SF-0001.

 

Lt. Gen. Bryan D. Brown, then commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command originated the idea in 2002, naming the knife for Lt. Gen. William P. Yarborough , the “father of modern Special Forces.” Yarborough championed the need for a knife that would continue the tradition of Special Operations units using, and being identified with, effective edged weapons. In World War II, the First Special Service Force, a joint American-Canadian unit, was equipped with the V-42 knife and the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to Special Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency, made use of the Fairbairn-Sykes knife.

 

Made by Chris Reeve Knives of Boise, Idaho, the serial-numbered Yarborough knife is available for purchase only by qualified members of the Special Forces Regiment including active duty, reserve, National Guard, honorably separated or retirees.

 

Requests for authorization to purchase the knife should be addressed to Commander, USAJFKSWCS, ATTN: AOJK-CS-Y (Yarborough Knife), Fort Bragg, NC 28310 or can be dropped off at drop boxes located at JFK Museum or Bryant Hall lobby. Applications can also be faxed to 910-432-4062 or emailed to [email protected].

 

Each request must be accompanied by a copy of photo identification and at least one of the following qualifying documents:

Copy of orders awarding an 18 series military occupational specialty

Copy of orders awarding the Special Forces Tab

Copy of diploma indicating successful graduation from the Special Forces Qualification Course

Copy of orders or an affidavit establishing successful completion of standard or nonstandard training or former wartime service for which a retroactive award of the Special Forces Tab would be authorized

Copy of Special Forces Association membership card showing they are a Decade or a General member in good standing

Copy of an Enlisted Records Brief or Officer Records Brief annotating the awarding of the Special Forces Tab

Copy of DD214 showing service, and, after 1952, the qualifying suffix of (3) or (S).

 

When a request has been verified, a letter of approval will be sent to the requestor noting the total purchase price, including the cost for shipping. The letter of approval must then be mailed, with payment, to the JFK Special Warfare Museum gift shop at PO Box 70060, Fort Bragg, N.C., 28307. The Yarborough knife will then be mailed within 4-6 weeks via certified mail.

 

Requests from Family members or estates of deceased, qualified Special Forces Regiment members who can prove their Soldier’s qualification will be reviewed on a case by case basis. Special Forces Soldiers who have been previously issued the knife as a result of graduating the SFQC, have already purchased a knife under the previous resale program, or those who have had their Special Forces Tab revoked, are not eligible to purchase the knife.

A version of the Yarborough knife, marketed as the ‘Green Beret’, is available for purchase by the general public.

 

********

 

 

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, March 28, 2010) – While Special Forces Soldiers are known for their mastery of many weapons, one weapon in their arsenal stands out in particular: the Yarborough Knife.

 

Named after Lt. Gen. William P. Yarborough, who is known as the “father of modern Special Forces,” the 12.5-inch combat utility knife began as a simple dinner conversation between Yarborough and Lt. Gen. Doug Brown about the need for a standard knife for Special Forces. Yarborough wanted Special Forces Soldiers to have a distinct edge blade weapon like their ancestors in World War II.

 

Beginning in August 2002 every Soldier who graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course, part of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, was issued the Yarborough Knife with its own serial number, and signed a special record book along with the most elite members of the United States Army, including Yarborough himself. The knife was also initially available for current Green Berets and Special Forces veterans.

 

Distribution of the Yarborough Knife was discontinued in 2004, after roughly one-thousand knives were issued. Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko, commanding general of USAJFKSWCS, reinstituted the issue of the knife, and was the first to sign for the new blades in 2008, with each knife now containing a serial followed by the limited edition number of its blade.

 

As each Green Beret crosses the stage upon graduation of the SFQC, he receives a legacy of the Brotherhood of Special Forces, signing in the pages of an illustrious history, shared by a select few. Only a few short years after its conception, the honor of the Yarborough Knife has now become almost as large of a part of the heritage and tradition of Special Forces as the Green Beret, and has also been shared with a small number of dignitaries such as President George W. Bush.

[treetop]

A friend of mine graduated back when they first started issuing these knives. He showed his to me. Neither one of us liked it, even though the knife maker is well known for quality knives. As I have a number of buddies who are tabbed and not at all interested in the knife, I could have gotten one via them but still am not interested in it. In my humble opinion, the SOG knife, Randall 14 or the Gerber MKll symbolize Special Forces more so than the Yaroborough knife. the One of the designers of the Yaroborough knife is Mr. Harsey. He and Chief Watson designed the Silver Trident, supposedly for the Navy SEALs. I have one and like the design of that knife better. I have also owned a Randall14 and several Gerber MKll's including the early "Bent blade" model all quality knives.

[e19]

I disagree... the knife that symbolizes SF is the Case V42, it's on our DIU and regimental coat-of-arms.

 

http://www.tioh.hqda...nit.aspx?u=4351

 

Randalls, and Gerbers were private purchase knives.

 

The Ciscos were issued by MACV/SOG which

wasn't an SF unit.

 

Buck knives were popular when I was in SFTG, They sold Model 110s, 119s, and 120s in the SF bookstore on Smoke Bomb Hill. I still have the Model 120 I purchased there almost 50 years ago..

[SKIPH]

I'm aligned with e19. I bought my Buck 110 a the old book store in 1970. As far as issue knives go in SF, I had Camillus MK2, M7 Bayonet, M9 Bayonet, Demo(MLK?)knife, machete. These were fairly standard issue to teams in the 70s, and 80s., M9 was issued to my team in 1989, they took away our M7s. Occasionally a supply sgt might have some JPKs, and MC-1 survival knives, but I never saw them actually team issued, although that doesn't mean they weren't, I just didn't see them. Private purchase you saw everything. Guys bought what suited them, Gerbers, Randalls, whatever. Just personal observations, and recollections. SKIP