The Mk2 knife that started it all for me

[Blu1989]

Hey everyone. I know I've talked about this knife in passerby in a couple of posts, most recently in my post about the Mk2 knife I found to take its place in my display while I wear this one when I'm out, but I don't think I've ever talked specifically about it in it's own post so if I have please forgive me but I know everyone loves hearing a good story every now and then. The pictures I attached here are of my knife and also the only picture I could find of my dad wearing it as in almost all of his pictures you never see a direct shot of him from the front where you can see his knife. Anyway this particular knife used to sit on a shelf in my dad's safe where he kept it hidden from everyone for almost, at the time I found it, thirty years. He used this knife when he and my mom would go canoeing on the rivers here in Mississippi and sometimes in the Appalacians. When the 70s were coming to an end my dad sharpened it one last time and stuck it in the safe, never to be used again until me as a young kid would happen on it almost thirty years later. I was intrigued as to why my dad had a knife like this and I took it out of the safe and started playing with it (I was young and didn't know any better). Anyhow my dad caught me playing with it and he took it from me and gave me a heck of a whipping telling me "to never touch that knife again". I always wondered why he would hide that particular knife but it wasn't until I was a bit older that I began to understand why he hid it away. The relationship between my dad and this knife started when my dad was a "brash 18 year old punk" (his words, not mine) who volunteered to join the marines in 1966 and landed in Vietnam in December of that year. He was originally issued a much older Mk2 but when 67 came around he had to turn that knife in and he was given this very knife I now hold dear to me. He carried this knife for thirteen months with his tour in the 1st Marine Division and this knife saw action in both of the operations that would net the 1st Marine Division its two Presidential Unit Citations for the whole of the entire Vietnam War. During downtime at the base or on patrols my dad would take the time to carve his initials into the leather so that he wouldn't get it mixed up with everyone else's. When his tour was up and he was being stationed stateside his first reaction was to take this knife and shove it down to the very bottom of his sea bag along with a VC flag and much of his other issue gear, hoping he wouldn't get caught. As luck would have it he was never searched during the entire trip to his new station in Beaufort, SC and he kept this knife hidden until he met my mom in the early 70s and they started going canoeing together for which this knife found new purpose again as a utility knife for cutting rope and clearing obstacles. Fast forward to five years ago to when I was having to go out into the field for school research projects (I am a geologist by trade). So my dad, thinking I could use a good knife pulled this knife out of the safe and gave it to me telling me "it got me through 'Nam and now it'll get you through whatever you come across in life". Now I wear it everytime I go to a gun show or out in the field doing research and I always feel my dad is right beside me. Thank you all for bearing with me on this long history of this knife.

[Steve B.]

Outstanding! Thanks for sharing a great story.

[jw517]

Yes,that's great man!

[sactroop]

Since knives can't talk it's nice some of them come with a translator, thanks for posting.