Frank Trzaska Posted September 6, 2019 Share #1 Posted September 6, 2019 Folks, I just seen this Randall with the owners serial number stamped into the blade. How would I go about finding any info on the original owner that this belonged to? Thanks! All the best Frank Trzaska Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray42 Posted September 6, 2019 Share #2 Posted September 6, 2019 I believe that is an officer's serial number since it starts with O. There isn't a way I know of to identify an officer by their serial number. I would be interested to see if anyone else has one however. Nice knife however! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaaf93 Posted September 6, 2019 Share #3 Posted September 6, 2019 Hello Sometimes (it is pretty rare but it has happened) using google works. Google the name and the serial number. His serial number may appear on some report if you are lucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Trzaska Posted September 7, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted September 7, 2019 I tried the google route with no success and do not know a name hence my search. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siclfde Posted September 13, 2019 Share #5 Posted September 13, 2019 Frank, There is a Forum topic in the list of Forums titled "Individual & Unit Research". I'd cut and paste the url but this board apparently doesn't allow that. Might be of some use. C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Posted September 13, 2019 Share #6 Posted September 13, 2019 Vietnam-era info is much harder to research than WWII in my opinion. Good luck Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted September 14, 2019 Share #7 Posted September 14, 2019 Looks like a WW2 era Model number 1 Have you reached out to Randall in Orlando?...May be a long shot but maybe they have a record of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznation Posted September 14, 2019 Share #8 Posted September 14, 2019 I think Doyler is most likely correct in that it's a WW2 era Model number 1. I went out to the old (now unavailable) usofficerdocuments.com website using the WaybackMachine and did a search for all officer service numbers beginning in O-1172 and here's a list I was able to come up with. On the WaybackMachine not all the names were searchable for whatever reason but you'll notice that the service numbers are consistent with what is on your Randall. One other thing I note is a majority of the ones that show what CORPS they were in that start with the number O-1172 is FA for Field Artillery. Is that a coincidence, I don't know. In any case, the closest matching service number to what is on your blade O-1172578 is that of Edward Mandell House II who shows a service number of O-1172500. I know close is not good enough but I hope that may give you an idea. Just thinking out loud, since this may well be a WW2 era knife and service number, can't you have one of the paid researchers on the forum attempt to located the person using the service number off the knife? Good luck in finding the owner of the knife. It looks like a nice one for sure. Hopefully, everything will come together for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45govt Posted September 14, 2019 Share #9 Posted September 14, 2019 Hello I checked out with a friend, Sheldon Wickershim who wrote the attached book and his response: "As to Frank's knife, it's a solid late 1943 vintage RMK #1 fighter" Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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