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USN Theater Knife, Vietnam Era


thorin6
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Picked this knife up in a small Virginia antique store north of Richmond, didn’t pay much. It appears to be a theater knife (as I understand them) but the sheath didn’t look right for WW2. The knife had a set of initials on the back of the guard, CSS, and a serial number on the blade, 15174958. Going to the NARA records turned up a Clay S. Sayers who enlisted in 1946. Born in 1927 and from Kentucky, he enlisted for one year. I search for him and turned up a grave site in Arlington Cemetery. He died in 1999 in Virginia Beach, VA, at the age of 71, and his wife predeceased him in 1993. However, the headstone picture shows him as a LCDR USN. Date of birth, city and state all correlate to the Clay S. Sayers that enlisted in 1946 at the age of 19, so I don’t think it’s a different Sayers. The knife most likely dates from Vietnam, as the sheath turns out to be a modified sheath for the 6-inch JPK knife. He would have been in his late 30s to early 40s during Vietnam. At this point I’ve run into a wall, no obit as of yet, and I’ve been unable to dig up any more information, particular about his service in the Navy. The sheath is certainly well used, and the knife shows use as well. If anyone has suggestions as to where to turn next the help would be appreciated.

 

 

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aznation,

First, great work in getting information, really appreciate it.

Second, it seems there are two individuals here; the one who owned the knife, retired as a LCDR, and died in 1999, and one with the nickname Skip who retired as a CAPT who was still alive in 2011. The second individual appears to have been commissioned in 1975, while the first individual was in a Navy management school in 1957 and was involved with helicopters in 1960-61. That would be consistent with the sheath being from an early 1957-62 6-inch JPK.

Lots of leads here, not sure where they lead.

Again, great job.

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