Quote:
Originally Posted by A10
It was the real deal. Nice sheath, and some original paperwork. My guess is the estimate was pretty good, though the Randall guys here would know best. One owner knife, theater used, heck it might auction for a heck of a lot more! The guy who owned it was a documented fighter ace....
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Was his name Richard Bong? If so, he was the top US ace of all time, 40 kills against Japanese planes, from a P-38 Lightning.
And he was known to carry a Randall like this. Have seen a photo of him wearing the knife. The knife was on his belt, his .45 in a non-standard shoulder holster.
If the knife was Bong's, it's probably worth a lot just because of his identity. He was awarded the Medal of Honor and is among America's greatest military heroes. Alas, he was killed while test flying a P-80 that flamed out on him.
But a knife like that that can be shown to belong to ANY WWII flying ace is a valuable item.
However, the "paperwork" is just an old catalog. It 's probably worth a lot on its own. I haven't seen one that old before.