Here is more about Col. Hal Moore?s mysterious presentation Randall. LTC Steve Moore believes Gen. Westmoreland may have presented that Randall to Col. Moore immediately after the conclusion of the battle of LZ X-ray. That battle was over about Nov. 16, 1965? and LTC Moore was promoted to full Col. On Nov. 23, 1965. But Westmoreland apparently flew up almost immediately after the battle was over. The DSC award for Col. Moore was dated 1 June 1966, months after Col. Moore's promotion. Obviously, the presentation of the Randall was long before that ceremony.
I previously noted the apparent old spacers, either late ?40s or from the middle ?50s. And I noted that it would be unusual for Westmoreland to acquire a 10-15 year old knife to present to Col. Moore in the middle of Vietnam in the very early buildup period. I speculated that the knife could have been a combat blade that Westmoreland himself had for a long time ? replaced by his newer, more presentable ivory handle RMK.
LTC (ret) Steve Moore writes:
?Dad clearly loved the knife. The only thing certain is what he told my brother ? Westmoreland gave it to him in VN. Westmoreland was an old airborne guy and, as the thread pointed out ? they all had Randall knives. I bet this was Westmoreland?s personal knife he carried and he replaced with the ivory one. So maybe your point (4) in the thread maybe be correct ? except he gave that knife to Dad in VN.
Dad did have a friendly relationship with Westmoreland from Bragg facilitated by COL Compton. Everyone knew each other there ? Dad just did not work for Westy but Westy was a family friend. I remember seeing a letter on Westy?s 4 star stationery sent to Mom after Xray reassuring her that all was well with Dad and his troopers. So, it is not beyond belief Westy could have given Dad his own knife.?
All the pictures of Hal Moore with the Randall so far seem to show him wearing a full Col. insignia (and wearing that insignia means he was probably not in danger-close at that time of the photo ? insignia were always covered in Vietnam, Korea, WWII whenever in close contact with the enemy?for obvious reasons.
What can help our search for the truth about General Moore?s Randall? Some better pictures might confirm if was old, or change the age estimate. Plus if the pictures were dated, we might get a handle on when it was presented to Col. Moore by Westmoreland. Here are more pictures of Westmoreland presenting DSC to Col. Moore.. better picture of knife but still cannot confirm details.
LTC Steve has forwarded additional pictures:
"Bong Son campaign? Feb 66? where he is wearing the standard bayonet."
"Another one taken when he was moving to join the fight at Lz 4 ? too dark to tell" (my note: I am 90 percent certain he is wearing the Randall based on faint hilt location next to ammo pouch..) I LOVE this picture for a very human reason.. In the field in Vietnam, many of us in Special Forces at one time or another had a picture taken wading in streams, etc. I guess it was a carry over from Marine karma in WWII.. but in most cases it was mostly a kind of photo -op moment. Heck I have one somewhere too. And now I see even Colonels did the same thing...human nature.
"Here is another pic from the return to Xray" (wearing Randall)
"And here is a picture with his Bde staff. No date." (wearing Randall... wish I could get a high resolution scan of this original picture)
I too am leaning to the belief that Westmoreland gave Moore that knife immediately after X-ray battle. Hal Moore was promoted 7 days after the conclusion of the battle. Gen Westmoreland's early visit after the battle would have been a propitious time, especially if his visit was in conjunction with promotion. Col. Moore was obviously wearing the knife when he received that DSC ? But I that ceremony was after 1 June 1966, long after he was already a full colonel .
If we can pictorially confirm that the knife was late ?40s-mid?50s, then the romantic in me will always believe it was indeed the personal carried knife that had belonged to General Westmoreland. I will post additional pictures of the knife if we find some that can be enlarged to show details.
What can we tell about Gen. Moore?s Randall from the pictures so far? The brown sheath had a horizontal keeper, the knife appears to have wide spacers, commando shaped handle, and no pommel which indicates a handle of wood or other, not leather. This makes the knife pretty unusual for a late ?40s or even mid-50's doesn't it? ? a commando shaped wooden handle model 1 or 2 and if it was wood.. wouldn't it probably have been pinned?
