Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Syd Carr on December 12, 2016 at 18:24

That's very cool, puts a face on the article about the Mark 1 that just appeared in Knife Magazine. Perhaps those notches denoted combat missions? (or how many cans of Spam they opened with the knife?)

Permalink Reply by Mario on December 12, 2016 at 20:05

I like the Spam comment. Could be!

Permalink Reply by Syd Carr on December 12, 2016 at 20:27

Ha, glad you like it Mario. My father served in the US Navy in the south Pacific during WWII, he swore he would never eat Spam again, and he never did as far as I know. My mom and I loved it, but if we wanted SOS, (s**t on a shingle), she had to make a separate meal for dad. He didn't even want to be in the same room when we ate Spam. He felt the same way about mutton, apparently they were feeding them mutton from Australia when he was on New Guinea, swore he lived on bananas the entire time because the only choices were Spam and rotten mutton. He always claimed that even the smell of lamb made him sick to his stomach, (obviously we never had kabobs at my house). I think he also told me he walked to school barefoot in the snow when he was a kid, so who knows for sure what really happened.

Once while shopping with him at an army/navy store I asked him if he had a Mark 1, (that store had a whole bin full of them for like $5 ea), he said they issued him one, but he preferred to carry his own Kinfolks fixed blade, (which I still have), so the Mark 1 he was issued never made it home with him. Wish I had grabbed a handful out of that bin and put them away somewhere, would love to have one now.

Mario Rossetti said:

I like the Spam comment. Could be!

Permalink Reply by Mario on December 12, 2016 at 20:39

Great story. One of my uncles was in the Navy and saw action at the Philippines Sea and Okinawa. He is credited with shooting down a Japanese Betty bomber (it is in his ship's log, of which he had a copy). His carry knife was a Camillus USN Mark 2. His friend, whose nickname was Tex, made the sheath for the knife and added his name to it. My uncle passed it on to me. Those WWII Vets were, and remain, great men.  

Glad that your father shared some information with you. Just imagining what they went through brings both a lump to my throat and pride for America to my heart.   

Syd Carr said:

Ha, glad you like it Mario. My father served in the US Navy in the south Pacific during WWII, he swore he would never eat Spam again, and he never did as far as I know. My mom and I loved it, but if we wanted SOS, (s**t on a shingle), she had to make a separate meal for dad. He didn't even want to be in the same room when we ate Spam. He felt the same way about mutton, apparently they were feeding them mutton from Australia when he was on New Guinea, swore he lived on bananas the entire time because the only choices were Spam and rotten mutton. He always claimed that even the smell of lamb made him sick to his stomach, (obviously we never had kabobs at my house). I think he also told me he walked to school barefoot in the snow when he was a kid, so who knows for sure what really happened.

Once while shopping with him at an army/navy store I asked him if he had a Mark 1, (that store had a whole bin full of them for like $5 ea), he said they issued him one, but he preferred to carry his own Kinfolks fixed blade, (which I still have), so the Mark 1 he was issued never made it home with him. Wish I had grabbed a handful out of that bin and put them away somewhere, would love to have one now.

Mario Rossetti said:

I like the Spam comment. Could be!

Permalink Reply by Syd Carr on December 12, 2016 at 20:57

Yeah, I am very proud of his service. The Navy buried him with full honors in 1988, I was a lucky kid.

Mario Rossetti said:

Great story. One of my uncles was in the Navy and saw action at the Philippines Sea and Okinawa. He is credited with shooting down a Japanese Betty bomber (it is in his ship's log, of which he had a copy). His carry knife was a Camillus USN Mark 2. His friend, whose nickname was Tex, made the sheath for the knife and added his name to it. My uncle passed it on to me. Those WWII Vets were, and remain, great men.  

Glad that your father shared some information with you. Just imagining what they went through brings both a lump to my throat and pride for America to my heart.   

Syd Carr said:

Ha, glad you like it Mario. My father served in the US Navy in the south Pacific during WWII, he swore he would never eat Spam again, and he never did as far as I know. My mom and I loved it, but if we wanted SOS, (s**t on a shingle), she had to make a separate meal for dad. He didn't even want to be in the same room when we ate Spam. He felt the same way about mutton, apparently they were feeding them mutton from Australia when he was on New Guinea, swore he lived on bananas the entire time because the only choices were Spam and rotten mutton. He always claimed that even the smell of lamb made him sick to his stomach, (obviously we never had kabobs at my house). I think he also told me he walked to school barefoot in the snow when he was a kid, so who knows for sure what really happened.

Once while shopping with him at an army/navy store I asked him if he had a Mark 1, (that store had a whole bin full of them for like $5 ea), he said they issued him one, but he preferred to carry his own Kinfolks fixed blade, (which I still have), so the Mark 1 he was issued never made it home with him. Wish I had grabbed a handful out of that bin and put them away somewhere, would love to have one now.

Mario Rossetti said:

I like the Spam comment. Could be!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 14, 2016 at 16:36

I like Colonial knives.  They are one of the three brands I collect.  I have several of their current production and older Colonials.  I don't have a Mark I yet but will probably order one one of these days.