Author: Grumpy
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Georgia
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts
John Hancock
Maryland
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
New York
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire
Matthew Thornton
It took a lot of guts to do this as they could of been hanged or worse for doing this! Grumpy
Categories
Rodeo: Hoe-Down
Tank’s first Kabar was this knife he bought for $20 from a mail order company.
During my early cop days in the mid-1980s, my interests shifted towards various weapons for obvious reasons, with guns and knives being the most common.
Now, I’m no psychologist, but I believe this stems from the idea that the more you know about these things, the less intimidating they seem. If you understand something better by knowing how it functions, surely it would help you when faced with the very item, knowing its capabilities — and limitations.
Kabars were the issued blade to US Marines.
First of Many
I ordered the classic USMC Fighting Knife from none other than KA-BAR themselves. Back then, the princely sum of $20 was all it took to make one yours. Made of 1095 carbon steel, the blades were very sharp. This knife started me on a knife odyssey, for this hefty blade had roots stemming back to WWII.
It looked and felt rugged enough to chop, cut, hammer, stab and slit anything that needed doing. I used the blade to gut and quarter deer while hunting, for camp chores, gardening and home jobs. The blade seemed indestructible! The more I used it, the friendlier and more useful it became.
This WWII era KA-BAR was bought at a gun show years ago by Tank, who paid way too much for it at the time.
Real Deal
A few years later, while perusing a gun show, I stumbled upon a small table displaying vintage WWII knives. There before me stood an original WWII-era USMC fighting knife with a leather sheath. Being young, I let my excited face and bulging eyes give me away. The dealer knew he had one “hooked” and just needed to reel me in to close the deal. I won’t say what I paid for the knife to save embarrassment on my part, but I left with the knife.
Every time I pick it up, I still get that giddy feeling of awe and respect. Even though these blades were stamped out by the thousands by several different manufacturers, the heft and quality are still there.
A crude tool, consisting of sharpened steel, clip point blade and stacked leather washers, it was your basic utility tool, but in the right hands, it was deadly. Like a .30-30 lever-gun, it’s more the man behind the gun than the gun itself that makes it useful.
Close-up of the blade stamp.
It wasn’t long after I stumbled onto a plastic-sheathed USN MKII “frogman” fighting knife. Being a little more seasoned, I was starting to learn the art of negotiation while looking mildly interested. I bought that knife for half as much as I paid for the original KA-BAR, even though they usually go for more. Over the years, the knives started stacking up.
Randall Made was one of my favorite custom knife makers, as well as EK’s and other lesser-known factory blades used during different wars and conflicts.
Whether soldier, cop, outdoorsman, homeowner or be-bopper, one thing is for certain: everyone needs a good knife for those “just in case” moments when they need to cut, pry, scrape, or pound something. Nothing beats a nice piece of sharpened steel when you need it, much like a gun.
A Camillus USN MK II knife used by Navy UDT members during WW II.
There’s no item that symbolizes the USMC more than the KA-BAR knife. Just seeing one triggers thoughts of lean men with high-and-tight crew cuts, ready for battle in short order.
Listed as item 1219C2 in November of 1942, it was the answer for the fighting men during WWII. With a robust 7-inch steel blade, it was a formidable weapon as well as a utility blade. The stacked leather handle makes the blade easily identifiable at a glance.
The heavy steel pommel also serves as a pounding tool for field chores and as a striking instrument against enemy combatants. The knife was indispensable for close combat and survival tasks in the Pacific theatre during WWII.
The knife saw continued use in Korea, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts. The knife remains a symbol of military tradition and is still popular among current servicemen, outdoor enthusiasts and collectors of military-issued equipment.
Union Cutlery rebranded itself as KA-BAR in 1952, after an earlier incident when an Alaskan fur trapper encountered a wounded brown bear. The trapper’s rifle jammed, and he reportedly used his Union Cutlery Company knife to finish the bear off. In a letter to the company, the only legible words were the ka bar, meaning kill a bear. The company adopted the phrase as its official trademark in 1923.
Close-up of stamped knife guard.
In The Navy
Navy personnel were issued the USN MK II, having a hard plastic sheath for underwater demolition team members (UDT).
The major manufacturer during WWII was Union Cutlery Co, which was the original creator of the knife and later renamed itself KA-BAR. Camillus Cutlery produced the largest amount of USN MK II knives during WWII, approaching 1 million blades.
Robeson (ShurEdge) Cutlery Co. also produced the MK II and are highly sought after by collectors, due to their rarity.
A newer Camillus USMC Fighting knife from the early 90’s.
Specs
• High carbon steel 9/64ths” thick blade
• All metal parkerized to eliminate reflection and protect metal
• Fully ground and sharpened swedge to allow cutting up or down point
• 7″ high carbon steel blade for excellent edge retention and ease of sharpening
• 1/32nd” blood grooves
• Compressed genuine cowhide leather washer handle with positive grip grooves
• Steel pinned pommel 3/8ths” thick
• Solid steel double quillion guard
• Fiber washers between the leather handle and the metal guard and pommel to prevent corrosion
• Full tang construction
• Heavy-duty oiled genuine cowhide sheath with exact full stitching and metal staples
KA-BAR keeps the same standards today as the original!
Post WWII
Ontario Knife Co was awarded a long-term contract to manufacture traditional USMC blades. Camillus Cutlery continued to make MKIIs throughout the Korean and Vietnam eras until 2007. Today, KA-BAR and Ontario continue making accurate renditions of the famous USMC fighting knife.
If you’re looking for a good utility blade, the KA-BAR is still a good option for someone who knows how to work a good piece of steel. The only limitations these knives have are the person using them.
