The "Short Man's Machete" over Vietnam

Seen here from above in its display case alongside maps and flight logs from other pilots assigned to missions over Vietnam is retired naval aviator Jim Reid's custom-made survival knife and sheath that he carried on all his combat missions over Vietnam. (Gift of Jim Reid, HRNM 2003-392D-001)

By Zachary Smyers
HRNM Educator

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum's latest exhibit focuses on the Navy’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Covering the war in its entirety, the new exhibit is broken into sections, which focus on specific communities within the Navy and what they did during their time in Vietnam. It gives visitors a very broad prospective regarding the Navy’s involvement in the war, and the important roles that so many Sailors played.

When entering the air section (which is devoted to Naval aviators), one will eventually discover a unique knife that was carried by Commander Jim Reid, USN (Retired), who has served as a docent at the museum since 1997. Jim’s knife was custom made in the Philippines, and he purchased it prior to attending Jungle Survival School. Jim said that he wanted a knife “…that wasn’t too long, because I’m a relatively short man” and he said he wanted a knife that was sharp enough to cut through his parachute harness if he ever had to eject from his aircraft. With a slightly curved blade that was razor sharp, Jim referred to his knife as the “short man’s machete.”

This type of Survival Knife/ Pilot Knife, 10.25 inches in length, was issued to pilots as part of their survival kit and has been standard issue since the late-1950s, yet Cmdr. Reid and an untold number of other pilots carried their own versions into combat. This knife was produced by the company Ontario in 1986. The sheath includes a sharpening stone. (Collection of Curator Branch, Accession number 91-164-Q, Naval History and Heritage Command)

The knife itself is quite different from the standard “Jet Pilot Survival Knife” that was issued to the Air Force as well as Navy aviators. The standard-issue Aircrew Survival Egress knife, which was designed by the Marble-Arms Corporation and manufactured by Camillus, originally had a six-inch blade with partial serrations along the top (for sawing if needed). The knife was issued with a leather sheath, which had a built in pouch that contained a sharpening stone. After some testing with various pilots, it was determined that the six-inch blade was too long and got in the way while inside the cockpit. The decision was then made to reduce the blade length to five inches.

Bolo knife 19.5 x 1.5 inches, given to Captain Lewis A. Kimberly, Commander of USS Beneica by the Governor of Cebu, Philippines. USS Beneica participated in the US Expedition to Korea in 1871. Reid's "short man's machete" is arguably a distant cousin made just shy of a century later. (Collection of Curator Branch, Accession number 2011-11-1, Naval History and Heritage Command)

Jim’s knife became part of his standard equipment load out along with his survival vest, G-suit, and a .38 caliber revolver. Jim talked about his pre-flight ritual of getting settled in the cockpit of his A-4 Skyhawk and then with his right hand “checking to make sure my knife was there.” He went on to share how he had some PRs (Parachute Riggers, or Aircrew Survival Equipmentmen) on the aircraft carrier make him a custom sheath. “I wanted it to be not in the way, but there if I needed to use it.”

The day he came closest to needing such a knife came the year before his first Vietnam deployment half a world away when a Puerto Rican Air National Guard (PRANG) F-86 Sabre accidentally collided with his A-4C over the western end of the island during a training exercise.

“His lower wing took out part of my tail, cut a gaping hole in my upper fuselage, damaged the turbine and ripped the slat off my left wing,” Jim wrote later. “The PRANG lost 54 inches of his right wing. Remarkably, our birds were still flyable.”

Pilots of U.S. Navy from Attack Squadron VA-36 Roadrunners with one of their Douglas A-4C Skyhawk aircraft on deck of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVS 11) off Vietnam. VA-36 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 10 (CVW 10) aboard the Intrepid for a deployment to Vietnam from June 4,1968 to February 8, 1969. En route to Vietnam, pilots underwent Jungle Environment Survival Training in the Republic of the Philippines, and while there many of them picked up survival knives particularly suited to the environment they trained for. (Wikimedia Commons via Navysite.de)

Another incredibly close shave came on October 20, 1968 over Tiger Island off the North Vietnamese coast, when Jim drew heavy antiaircraft fire providing close air support for two downed Air Force F-4 Phantom pilots as well as the Air Force search-and-rescue crew who had been shot down trying to rescue them. Although he was not officially authorized to enter the operational area, or “route package” reserved for the Air Force, he was ultimately awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for keeping the enemy too busy shooting at him to thwart the rescue of the downed airmen.

Another view of Jim Reid's knife featuring its sheath, made by enlisted Aircrew Survival Equipmentmen aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid (CVS 11). (Gift of Jim Reid, HRNM 2003-392D-001)

For each of his 77 combat missions over Vietnam, the “short man’s machete” made the trip.

Jim reflected upon that one day while sitting at the museum’s front desk, saying “I guess it was my good luck charm.”