Veteran’s Day: A War Veteran & His Knife

With Veteran’s Day coming up on Monday, it seemed like the perfect time to do a spotlight on a veteran and his knife. This story appeared in The Detroit News last month, and it’s pretty neat. Take a look:

vetran(Max Ortiz / The Detroit News)

Sgt. Frank Cybulski was only 20 years old when an explosion from a detonated mine left him “badly burned and in shock” on January 14, 1970 in Vietnam. While Cybulski was whisked off to a hospital, his knife that his parents had sent him was left behind, and he wouldn’t see it again for several decades.
His friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, Sgt. Loyd Gates, was only yards away when Cybulski was injured. Gates retrieved his friend’s knife and kept it clean and sharpened, intending to return it someday.
That day came about a month ago when the two were reunited. Understandably, the knife brought with it many memories and emotions that literally brought Cybulski to tears.
While Cybulski is lucky to be alive today, he isn’t quick to forget the many (and I don’t say that lightly) who died in the war. He plans to carve the number 754 into the handle of his knife in memory of the 754 who died in his brigade during the war. Then, with his two-year-old grandson, he will visit the Vietnam Memorial in DC, touch the wall, and leave his knife there.
It’s a pretty neat story, don’t you think?
Although the story doesn’t mention what type of knife is pictured, I’d like to hear your thoughts. What brand do you think it is? I asked my go-to person about his thoughts on this, and he said that during Vietnam, the military issued a lot of Buck knives. To him, the knife resembles a ’70s model of a Randall 1-7. What do you think it is?
 
To all who have served or are currently serving this country, thank you from all of us here at Blade HQ.

3 thoughts on “Veteran’s Day: A War Veteran & His Knife

  1. Guess as a Randall knife, is a good one. If not, it might be an old Marbles knife. Doubt if either would have been issued by the Military. The WW II Marines were issued Kabar knives and they were most treasured, although to meet demand Ontario, Buck and others may have produced copies. SOG produced their agent models for CIA agents & recon units in Viet Nam, and were equally treasured by all who could get them.

  2. First thank-you , for your service !
    I noticed that the article states that his parents sent him the knife , so it wasn’t issued to him bye the service ! So my first guess is that its a Marble’s

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