In Mr. Perron’s own words:

Owen F. Perron 

• Military Service Synopsis
• Background: ROTC University of San Francisco 1959-1963
• Commission 2nd Lieutenant
• US Army Artillery School Ft. Sill, OK 1963
• US Army Airborne School Ft. Benning, GA 1963
• (Graduated 11-22-63 date of J. F. Kennedy assassination)
• Third Infantry Division 3/76th Artillery 155mm self propelled Germany
• Battalion Assistant Executive and Executive Officer of A Battery
• 1st Lieutenant February 196
• Vietnam – Volunteered 1965
• Special Warfare School Ft. Bragg, North Carolina July 1965
• At this time, I purchased Model 14 knife by phone from Randall. I tried to purchase their survival knife but they were back ordered.
• Army Language School in Monterey, CA – Vietnamese September-October 1965

“In November 1965 I arrived in Saigon. At the airport I saw a lot of coffins stacked up, from the 1st Air Cav 2/7th which had been ambushed in the Ia Drang Valley, and I realized things were getting pretty serious. I was processed through MACV and was sent to the 9th ARVN Division headquarters in Sadec in the delta region. I was assigned to the 1/91st artillery as an assistant advisor and ultimately became the advisor.

The mission of the 1/91 Artillery was both static and mobile. 2 to 3 guns were deployed in various locations to protect the Vietnamese villages. Then, depending where the operations took place, perhaps a battery or two were pulled out of the villages and towns for 2-3 day operations. Our operations were brief but frequent. I traveled by both jeep and helicopter. As an assistant advisor I spent a lot of time in Tra Vinh, 3-4 months. For the last 4 months I was the battalion advisor stationed in Sadec.

At the beginning of my tour the knife pretty much accompanied me everywhere, especially if I was on the ground with patrols and forward observers. As I pent more time in helicopters, (Huey D models and CH 47s) the knife was a less frequent companion due to its size and weight. At the end of my tour, November 1966, the Mekong River flooded at record levels and the 9th ARVN division Commander decided to evacuate the artillery pieces form the Cambodian border (1/92 Battalion).

I was the only person with experience in that type of mission so I was sent to take care of it. Air America helicopters took me into the area. I had no cooperation from the Special Forces because they did not want the guns (155 Howitzers) evacuated. I rigged them and they were lifted out by CH 47s. On the last gun out I hooked it, stood on top of it, and the crew pulled me up through and opening in the floor as the CH 47 hovered. The knife accompanied me on this, my last significant mission”

Signed: Owen F. Perron  and dated.

The knife is in excellent condition for a carried piece, with the 01 blade exhibiting an old cold blue job applied by Mr. Perron while in Viet Ham. It has a nice patina and evidence of only light sharpening.The brown micarta handle is sound and has the classic color and pattern we expect to see in this model. The two bolts are covered in a mixture of brown micarta dust and epoxy. The brass hilt is typical of the day.

The “double filled screw hole” knives are extremely rare. They were only made for a short time in the early 60’s. I cover this time frame in a previous article found in “The Randall Collector” archives on the site. To find a Randall of this caliber directly from the original owner with this type of provenance is simply as good as it gets.

**Note: The numerous photos and emphemera that are pictured with this article are not the total Mr. Perron was able to provide. With the limit of space, I chose some things of interest to the reader.