A Private Purchase Buck Sheath Knife in Vietnam

[Charlie Flick]

It's well known that there were a wide variety of private purchase knives used by US servicemen in Vietnam. I recently ran across this photo which illustrates a US soldier in the foreground carrying a Buck sheath knife in action. My pal Turnerriver, who is a casual Buck knife collector, identified this blade for me as a Buck Model 120 with a 7 1/3" blade.

 

The soldier is a casualty and was a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The Brigade was engaged against the enemy at Hill 875 near Dak To on November 22, 1967. The caption indicated that these soldiers were under sniper fire while waiting to be medevaced. I hope they all made it out of there.

 

Regards,

Charlie

 

[Charlie Flick]

This pic gives a good view of the Buck Model 120. (Photo credit to Old Hunter).

 

 

An older thread on the Forum provided some additional useful information on the Buck knives in military service: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/83214-buck-knifes-and-military-use/

 

Regards,

Charlie

[doyler]

Great photo Charlie

 

Bucks were pretty popular.

 

I had a 120 I bought in High School.Wish I would have kept it

[SFMike]

They were quite popular and much more useful than the Gerber daggers some guys bought.

 

Stainless steel, they were hard to sharpen.

 

At Ft Bragg, it was De Riguere to wear a model 110 or a deo knife in a rigger pouch when not in the field.

 

I know guys who had Randalls, but I always thought that a knife that cost a few months pay would be a sad thing to lose.

No better, anyway, actually.