I have mine and my Dad's - Fortunately I have not had to go to the VA for medical care (Not yet at 67...knock on wood). My technical training as an '03 was how to stay alive!!   Bill

I know everyone on the internet says the old Naval Clothing Factory/Depot located in Brooklyn, NY closed in 1966. However, as a young navy dependent, I have a most vivid  memory of Dad stopping by the the facility in 1973-74ish to get his service dress blue and full dress white coats altered. Dad had purchased all of his dress uniforms there since his commissioning in 1958.  The store was located in a seedy part of South Brooklyn, a few blocks from what had been the Brooklyn Yard.  When we moved to the West Coast Dad bought all uniforms through the Navy Exchange system.  I remember Dad commenting years later that the Brooklyn Depot made uniforms were by far the best, especially if you visit in person for a personal fitting.  

Greetings Andrew,        Without some plausible family input or the from the veteran themselves, at best, any determination of when and where the knife was assembled and or carried would be pure conjecture. I am unawares of any contemporary to WWII (earlier or later for that matter) military program or civilian business, which would have led to such an assemblage of parts, so determining the knife's (as it is now) origin story is always going to be a bit of a riddle. I have previously purchased mixed parts Mark I Trench Knives myself, in order to complete various types of modified knuckles missing blades (for my own collection). These type of mixed parts variants are IMHO, most often someone making due with what parts they have access to and does not necessarily mean it was accomplished by a uniformed servicemember. To your query, no idea as to when this modification was made, though surely after WWI. Could be done in time for WWII or it could have been 10 years ago.       The only practical issue of a French/American combination mixed parts' assemblage is the fit of the Au Lion blade's shoulder into an L.F.& C. variant's handle's blade opening. While the skull crusher/retaining nut can securely hold the blade's tang in place, the actual fit of the blade where it exits the font/blade side of the handle is often one of poor fit and requires some "work with a file" to get a uniformed fit. In other words, the blade shoulder's profile is ever so slightly different between the French and American made variants so that while they both generally speaking fit each others' handles, they are usually wobbly and inexact in that fit. And without the support of a decent blade shoulder's fit; all that is retaining the blade is some very thin threads on the end of the tang. Those threads alone won't hold up to severe use and will easily strip. No, I assume, not always the case that these blades require some fitting work, but on the few mixed parts' examples I have purchased, that was the case. Surely, there must have been some blades that dropped right into place without any "work" required. OK, well off topic, but an interesting aside just the same.   Best Regards,   V/r Lance 

Found this old thread about the CADET WINGS while researching information I have been reading in a large Group from a NAVY VF-82 F6F-5 Hellcat Fighter Pilot KIA  early 45 He Attended the NAVY CPT (Civilian Pilot Training) SEP 1942 in Phoenix Arizona (Have his CPT Log Books) Group ALSO Included a large collection of letters sent home to family starting in 1943 as a CADET at Hotel Del Monte Monterey Cal and continued through his training at multiple training stations. Graduated and then aboard USS BENNINGTON The interesting point is he Mentions His Sister is wearing his wings (not the official Navy Wings) and from the dates on the letters he must have gotten it after CPT in Arizona (solo) No description of the wings but assume he is talking about the V-5 Wings but again thats only a Guess BUT he did get Wings of some sort prior to his OFFICIAL NAVY GRADUATION WINGS

could also be the Pal Navy version. Some are marked RH 37. Kabar had a knife only marked Kabar on one side.   Coles book shows a PAL only blade marking.

I don't need one. I received valuable technical training, experience and now I am receiving medical care from the VA.

Bought from a abandoned storage locker buyer for 30$. Obviously used as the quartz is worn but still works.

He told me last year he had bought the Trippel from a mutual friend in Luxemburg… I was especially impressed by his Gibbs Aquada…          

This knife appears to be a PAL USMC Mark 2.   It’s marked PAL on one side of the BLADE but is blank on the other.   Any ideas?   Did PAL have knives it released after the war with the USMC ground off?   There are no clear grind marks on the knife.   Any help is much appreciated    THANKS

I wonder if anyone can answer this question. By what means or what process was used to etch the fingerprint onto the I.D. Tags mentioned in post #14? Was it some sort of chemical process?  THX!