An almost perfect WWII Kabar in a Mint Sheath

[rambob]

The particulars on these items, using Cole as a resource, is that this is a First Type model Kabar with the early, threaded, thick butt. It has USMC stamped on one side of the blade and Kabar Olean N.Y on the other side. The knife itself is in gorgeous condition except it was left in the sheath for 60 years and the blued finish was removed by the tannic acid in the leather. It is still so sharp, I believe I could shave with it. The sheath is USMC BOYT 43 marked and is in perfect condition except for the name Tony Rossi marked in the sheath using dots made by the tip of a nail. But this is where the sad part of the story starts.

 

John met Tony Rossi in boot camp and they became best friends almost immediately. They were inseparable during basic training and shipped out to different units and different islands in the pacific. While either on Iwo or Roi-Namur, John received a letter from Tony asking if he might be able to get a combat knife for him as he desperately needed one and they were in short supply. John was able to “acquire” this knife and as a surprise, marked Tony’s name in the sheath and mailed it to him. A few weeks passed and the package was returned, as undeliverable due to recipient being KIA. John put the knife in his seabag and it didn’t see the light of day until he gave it to me. John still deeply mourns the loss of Tony to this day.

 

Here is the knife which will never leave my collection.

[Greg Robinson]

A very nice knife with a great story. I remember your showing this piece before. It's not the 1st generation USMC KA-BAR but it's early. The 1st generation knife had the red spacers in handle at guard, red/black/red spacers in handle at pommel, blued blade, ground smooth pommel, long guard, hand carved oval shaped leather handle, and lightweight leather sheath with steel rivits.

 

Here's one near identical to yours but after the specs were changed to parkerization of the metal. But same markings on knife and scabbard and same pommel. Mine is a bit of a hearbreaker since a previous owner peened out the "USMC" on the dated scabbard and partially removed the "USMC" on the blade. But I got it cheap....and it's otherwise a beauty.

[rambob]

Greg, Thanks for the clarification and your knife/sheath is a beauty!! I posted this knife as a reply to a previous topic, but wanted to make it its own topic in honor of Memorial Day and to highlight the sacrifices made by our WWII veterans. I hope the story will be memorable for the membership as it was for me.

 

Bob

[Greg Robinson]

Greg, Thanks for the clarification and your knife/sheath is a beauty!! I posted this knife as a reply to a previous topic, but wanted to make it its own topic in honor of Memorial Day and to highlight the sacrifices made by our WWII veterans. I hope the story will be memorable for the membership as it was for me.

 

Bob

 

Yes....it's a great story. But I question the one part of the story about the knives being in short supply. By 1944-1945 the "k-bars" were not scarce and if you look at period photos taken later in the war all Marines are wearing them. By that point about a million of them had been produced so getting one issued to any Marine in the FMF Pacific shouldn't have been a problem. I wonder if this detail of the story has gotten garbled over time. But I don't doubt for a minute that these young gyrenes were friends and that John "acquired" a knife for his buddy Tony who didn't live to receive it. This doesn't change the sacrafices these men made and may just be an example of how memory fades after 60+ years.