The photo/info card that accompanies the knife in the museum showcase says that Bo Randall presented the knife to the General. What that's based on, I don't know yet. However, if the curator was confident enough to make that statement for public consumption, I tend to believe him. He has been in possession of the knife for over 10 years, and was a close personal friend of General Westmoreland. I hope to have another conversation, face to face, with him soon.

Wally--

Whatever questions might have been raised by the inconsistencies in what you discovered about the knife, it was a great job by you and Capt. Chris getting up and doing the detail work.

Sure would be nice to tie down just how he came to own the knife. Was it a "gift" from RMK/Bo? (Was "gifting" a normal thing, and if so did Bo "gift" to other prominent military personnel?) Did the general order it from the shop? Did he buy it from a Randall Dealer? Was it a gift from somebody else, whether civilian admirer, family member, or military staff?

Any physical evidence about the route from the RMK shop to the general would help to either substantiate or correct assertions and assumptions that people not involved might offer at this late date. If the general left a hoard of personal papers, the answer might have been preserved there. Surviving family members might also have some memory of it.

Larry

Thanks Wally (and a belated HUGE thanks for all you have done here). Very interesting (to me at least) that Bo would choose a Model 5 rather than a model such as a 1, 14, 15 more traditionally considered to be a "fighting knife". But, the 5 was obviously configured as a fighter with the double hilt. Not a big deal but the rest of that story might be interesting.

Thanks again.

My guess is Bo had a #5 forging sitting there and wanted to get a "fighter" out to the general, threw a double hilt on it, an ivory handle and wa la, out the door.

I don't think it was a decision based on weeks of thought and debate.

Perhaps ivory because of Patton's appreciation for it.

I am on my IPhone, attempting to reply. I spoke with GTR & there will be speculation, no matter what is decided about a 50 year old occurance, "but" ( ya'll knew it was coming) Buddy Sturgis, a close personal friend of the General..."&"... A professional soldier, attached to General Westmoreland, and I spoke for 20 minutes about these subjects. Wally & I are going to be working on this historical & interesting knife (& project) for some time yet to come. What I have stated, thus far, are recounts and facts as they relate to this story, nothing more, nothing less.
I hope to have compiled everything sooner, rather than later. In the meantime, I am in the "Mike Mason" camp! I hope everyone appreciates what has been done so far and what will be done. Thanks again Wally.
Best, Capt. Chris

That's a cool thought

This stuff is fading from memory - somewhere, I recall reading, a field knife could be made a "fighter" with the addition of a double hilt; were the soldier lucky to return -lop off the top and a field knife once more.

Wally & Capt - nice work!

One thing no one has taken into consideration relative to the light stamp of the 1 and 6, is the proximity to the butterfly stitching. This would stand to reason considering you could cut the stitching with a swift hammer strike on the die.

Why it was stamped there I have no idea. I have to defer to the Randall shop examination that it was stamped as I have not seen this piece in hand as have Wally, Chris, Michael, Scott, et. al.

Actually, upon further inspection, the stamp on the Westmorland sheath, a Johnson, closely resembles the HKL from Bills's post, albeit sloppy and/or light plus wear. Look at the 6, bingo! Perhaps that is a typical look for a 6 in a serif font.

Joe, I like the idea/theory that it was assembled "on the fly", imagine W.D. Randall opening the morning paper, learning the General was gonna be close by, heading out to the shop and pickin a fresh forged blade, so adding the hilt and handle might be all it took to finish. Since the General was in Vietnam from 64-68, the year 1963 makes sense for when he would have acquired it, as baby dot sheathes were "new" then. I'm not trying to promote the idea, not without evidence. I just think it's cool!