Anytime American troops deploy, they’re sure to bring a few effects from home: A photo or two of loved ones, a hard drive of porn, enough cigarettes or dip to make their lungs and gums raw for a year, and of course, a knife.

Often, one knife in particular: a KA-BAR. The KA-BAR has an almost cult-like following in the military. The company’s knives are steeped in legend, from stories of soldiers and Marines taking out enemies in brutal close-quarters combat, to urban myths about the steel being so strong that wooden shipping crates were sent with KA-BARs instead of crowbars during World War II.

Even the name “KA-BAR” has its roots in folklore.

According to KA-BAR, there’s an urban legend that in the 1900s, the company, then called Union Cutlery, received a letter from a fur trapper detailing a harrowing encounter with a grizzly bear that he killed with his Union Cutlery hunting knife.

The writing was so smudged, the only letters discernible in that passage were “K A Bar.” So, the KA-BAR trademark was born.

Union Cutlery, and later KA-BAR, knives have seen action in every major U.S. conflict since the company was founded in 1897.

At the time, most service members carried their personal effects into battle. So, when American troops shipped off to World War I, many of them left home with their Union Cutlery knives and razors.

“That was where it started on the military side for KA-BAR, really where you could see it take shape,” Joseph Bradley, marketing manager and archivist at KA-BAR, told Task & Purpose in an interview.

Already popular among veterans of World War I and outdoorsmen alike, in 1942, Union Cutlery was one of several companies contracted to create a new kind of knife.

Marine Col. John M. Davis and Capt. Howard E. America worked with Union Cutlery to design a new blade for the military.

“So, Captain America was partially responsible for the KA-BAR coming into existence for the U.S. military,” said Bradley.

Officially titled the 1219C2, it’s commonly called the 1217 USMC Fighting Utility Knife and chances are, if someone says he’s used a KA-BAR, this is what he’s referring to.

Unlike the knives used in the trenches of World War I, this new blade was meant to be an all-purpose tool, said Bradley. Troops needed something durable that could do the job of a last-ditch weapon, as well as it could a can-opener or pry-bar.

There were several companies making the blade, but what set the KA-BAR apart was its durability, said Bradley. That, and the fact that each one was stamped “KA-BAR.”

Naturally, troops began calling any similar-looking knife a KA-BAR, and over time, the term became just another name for any combat knife. While knife’s quality made it a hit with troops, images of it on every hip and in every hand, made it an iconic symbol of American troops at war. (Source: Task & Purpose | Ames Clark | November 4, 2016)

By Thomas Crisp

Contributing Columnist

Thomas Crisp is a retired military officer from Whitmire. His veteran updates can be found weekly in The Newberry Observer.