My grandfather (Charles S. Swain)was a Ranger in WWII. He started out as a "MULE"...training to carry heavy equipment into impossible areas. At one point, he was asked if he wanted to become a Ranger. He thought..."What the hell".
Well, he wound up being in the raid on the Japanese POW camp Cabanatuaan and freeing 500+ American soldiers.
After the raid, he was one of 9 soldiers who went on a War Bond PR tour back in the states.
He carried his Randall Model 1 with him on his whole Pacific tour.
Here is a picture of my grandfather's knife. the pin on the sheath is the "Mule Skinner" pin he earned when training as a "MULE" prior to becoming a Ranger.

Here is a picture of my dad's Model 1. He bought this in Orlando (from Bo Randall himself) at the Randall plant. That was in 1966 when  my dad was a student at Embry Riddle in Daytona Beach.


Here is a picture of both together.


My model 1 is due for shipment in Janurary of 2007. I plan to make a custom case and display all three, and make provisions for a 4th one. When My son turns 12, I will order one for him. Imagine the display if we wind up having another boy...I could go broke.

[Thanks to bytethebullet for resizing my pictures]

All I can say is thank you for sharing. I am simply amazed. When your son is ready you can check with www.nordicknives.com the wait time is about 1/3 of the wait direct from Randall.

Nice!

Thanks for sharing

My father was one of the fighters at Cabanatuaan as well as field sargeant of the 'Alamo Scouts'. He was originally with the 96th Infantry, and one of 'Darby's Rangers'. He was also at the battle of Leyte Gulf. After the war he was Provost Marshal of the Phillipines. He was S.Sgt. B.H. "Rocky" Dunn. The photos, commendations, and stories he told were the stuff of legend.