A knife sale and "the Rest of the Story"

[Mr.Jerry]

This was just kind of neat and I thought I would share.  A few months ago I bought a pile of knives and bayonets from one of our pickers, Nothing super great, but all real stuff.  One of them was kind of odd as it was a MK2 Camillus in a much more modern scabbard. Eventually the knives went out for sale to our shop, website and ebay - where I listed the one:

 

WWII US CAMILUS USMC MARINE CORPS MKII FIGHTING KNIFE – CARRIED IN IRAQ? along with the story I had been told:

"The story that came with this one is that it was carried in Iraq. I was not there (and as they say “always buy the story not the item” oh wait, actually it is “buy the item and NOT the story” ;) But It certainly may have been, I have no proof and the knife came from a picker who only shared the item and the story. But it is a WW2 Mark 2 USMC fighting knife and a modern MOLLE “Spec-ops” desert camo scabbard of some sort. Kind of cool if it was carried in two wars decades apart."

 

It was a little after the auction ended- that I was contacted by the high bidder- (and this is where it gets neat)

 

Good afternoon,

My name is SgtMaj Frye....just wanted to let you know that this sheath is 100% mine and it was used in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005. As for the knife I am a collector of vintage USMC so it could of very well been my exact knife I carried but I can’t remember for sure but the sheath is without a doubt mine. I marked several pieces of gear in the same manner/hand writing ect. I know this particular item has been lost since 2006/07. Someone wanted it more than me at the time I guess. Anyway thought you would enjoy the story.

SgtMaj Frye USMC (Ret)

 

It made me feel good to know "the rest of the story" and that the knife was "home" again!

 

[mdk0911]

cool piece with pretty cool history!!

[Misfit 45]

Now THAT doesn't happen very often.   Very cool.

Marv

 

[SKIPH]

Mr. Jerry- Great story, and to actually hear from the original owner is fantastic.  Thanks for the great thread!  SKIP

[kfields]

That is a wonderful story!

I've had one wartime knife marked with name and serial number and even found the original owner ! We corresponded. His knife ( the one I have) was swiped too. He's in his 90's now so was happy I had it 

[digi-shots]

Very cool… would the Sgt. Major’s first name be Bill?  I know of a USMC collector.. Sgt. Mag. Bill Frye in the southeast Virginia area.