Two very different USMC MK2s that our late Grandfather had. Need some insight and opinion on these.

[HunterK10]

Hi, I hope to get some more information on these two very different USMC MK2 knives that my wife's late Grandfather had. One, as you'll see, seems to have been used and abused. ("Been there done that" as you guys say.) And the other is in very good shape. He joined the Marines in 1943 and served in Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945 as an air gunner for two torpedo bomber squadrons. I was gifted one knife by the family and the other knife is being kept by his daughter for now.

 

Below are some pictures of the knife that I was gifted. It seems to have gone through hell and back and I'd like your thoughts on it. From the research that I have already done, it seems to be the early threaded tang / thick butt version KA-BAR. Does that sound about right? As you can see, its tough to make that determination as the pommel has been broken off. There is no lettering on the scabbard that I can see, but it did have some extra love added to it with the custom reinforcement. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Let me know what you think of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the second knife is a whole different story. It is in very good condition compared to the one that I have. It is a Camillus, NY version and seems be parkerized if I'm not mistaken. The scabbard has etchings of all of his destinations. (I covered up some personal identification just to be safe.) If I had to guess, it seems like this knife was not used at all. Here are the photos, let me know what you think of this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think the story is with these two knives? Do you think he had one knife that he used and one that he kept clean as a memento? Maybe he broke his first one, got a new one and then took much better care of it? I'd love to hear what you guys think of this. Thanks for looking.

 

[usmce4]

I shouldn't open my mouth, as I've been nothing but wrong lately, but since your Grandad was a Marine and nobody else is falling down in a rush to offer info, I'll give you my two cents worth (IF it's even worth that much).

The one you were gifted is an considerably early KABAR. If your Grandad went in in '43 that knife may well have been new when it was issued to him. Valuewise, if it were mine I'd say the value was whatever a momento of an Old Corps Marine in my family was worth to me.

The Camillus is also a fairly early knife, from my limited knowledge I'd say pre 1944. Valuewise, I wouldn't say because I'd be probably wrong but is IS worth more than the later ones with the markings on the guard rather than the blade. As for his ports-of-call on the scabbard, really cool as a family momento, but without documentation IMHO add little monetary value and don't distinguish between battles he was in or just ports-of-call. I know the Marines were in some pretty good battles in San Diego, but they were generally against U.S. Sailors and usually in bars or back-alleys.

Just as an aside, I'm surprised an airdale would be issued a KABAR. A gunner's position in a TBY is pretty tight and cramped and you'd think he'd have something a lot smaller and less likely to snag on things if he had to get out fast.

Hope this helps, Art