The knife
That morning the sky was grey, the air humid and the woods wet.
After some miles of marching with heavy rucksacks on a dirty road, the young men stopped in the middle of the nowhere, and they all lined up.
Despite the cold and the fact they were all wet, they had just their shirts on.
The teams were all lined up and everyone had his knife in his hand.
Danforth was clenching his teeth, with his knife shaking in his hand.
Krakauer, who was right beside him, was staring glazed into the distance, as if he was trying to find something hidden inside his own mind.
Rambo had his gaze on Garner already, when he started talking.
“The one in your hands, is a brand new fighting model, specially designed for the SOG. It's called Randall model 18”.
The recruits looked at it: it was a long, black coated, bowie-clip knife with a saw-back.
The handle was cord-wrapped.
It was longer and more impressive than any bayonet used at the time for sure.
None of them was impassive in front of the charm of the beauty of a military knife as long and aggressive-looking as that one was, not even in the middle the cold they were feeling at the time.
“If you unscrew the pommel, you will see that it is a compass, and that the handle is hollow. Inside the handle, there are some items. Hollow-handled knives were created during World War Two for pilots usage, in case they were shot down. And it's a situation very similar to those you are going to fight your mission in”
As downed pilots – Danforth thought.
Jesus Christ.
“The first purpose for hollow-handled knives was to have a place to keep matches dry under any circumstances. Unscrew your handles”
The young men unscrewed their knives’ pommels.
“Inside the handle there's a 'standard' kit: needle, string, fishing sinkers, a razor blade, matches. You are going to change that kit according to your mission’s necessities.
The hollow handle means the knife can store a stick, which turns the knife into a spear. This is perfect for big game hunting as well as a thrusting weapon, if you end up being un-armed for any reason. A very fearsome weapon in hand to hand combat, and we are going to train you into using it.”
“The string is used for fishing, but also to strangle an enemy, if necessary. You just need to handle it in the usual way. Messner, show it to us”
Messner wrapped the string around his hands a couple of times. Then he tightened it as much as he could, to show the others that it was stronger than a standard fishing line.
“Well done. The handle of this knife is cord-wrapped, and so it doesn't get slippery not even when the knife is wet. But if you ever really need it, you can unwind it and use it as a spare cord for your bow. You are going to use this one for it, not the fishing line. Am I clear?
John smiled: had he really just said bow?
All of the recruits looked at each other incredulously.
The idea of grasping a bow in Vietnam made many of them smile, and more than one perplexed.
“Yes, you heard it right: In Vietnam you are going to kill with the bow too.
We are going to train you in mastering archery using the 'compound' bow, because no weapon is as silent as a bow is.
What we are going to teach you has been done by Vietnamese tribes for millennia, and some still do. You will never be as good as they are, but very close. Now, let's hold your knives and... ”