Bayonet

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That's a sharp observation. I'm just taking a stab at it here but I think you are likely on the bleeding edge. I'm not sure if you have steeled yourself to the cutting comments you are likely to receive. I feel you have just scratched the surface.
I think we all get your point SharpDog. :thumbup:
 
As my Dad used to say... the problem with a knife - is that you have to get entirely too close to someone that really really doesn't like you... On the other end of that equation our marines (and other fighting men) have shown on more than one occasion that the "other side" really really don't like bayonets at all... and sometimes you simply do what has to be done.
 
The original reason for the creation of the bayonet was to have a way to continue fighting when the enemy closed upon you, in the era of slow-to-load single-shot firearms.
 
The original reason for the creation of the bayonet was to have a way to continue fighting when the enemy closed upon you, in the era of slow-to-load single-shot firearms.
My (incomplete) understanding was that the original "enemy" was actually wounded, dangerous game.
 
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My (incomplete) understanding was that the "enemy" was actually wounded, dangerous game
Until the universal adoption of the machine gun (and also armored vehicles), one of the primary "anti infantry" combat arms was cavalry, mounted troops in some guise. (Also why infantry companies were formed of four platoons, so they could "form square" against horse attack.

As a half-ton of charging horse is hard to stop, you want as much advantage as you can. A pike or halberd is actually the best defense, so, a long knife on a long rifle can be made into a useful substitute.

That is, until horse are replaced on the battlefield.

Then, it became the ultimate depiction of close-quarters battle, and of last-ditch stands.
 
The command "fix bayonets" induces a pucker factor of 10.

Heard it once during hell week in the A Shau, an LT screamed it. Thanks to all the various deities a E7 said " Sir, perhaps we should try artillery and close air support first. God bless you Sarge Oliver.
Another well documented story was the next day under heavy fire a Spec 4 , Jimmy Johnson stood up with his M 60 and screamed, blank you, you blanking blankers and charged the hill. Every one stared a second, then jumped up followed him screaming. We crested the hill and watched the NVA try to flee into Laos, only to get ambushed by another company.
A good read documenting this is Hamburger Hill by Samuel Zafferi
 
I'll always thank the man upstairs that I was assigned to the 101st -after most of that was stood down in 1971. When you were there the 101st was something to write home about - if you survived... I was just a pencil pusher back then and just fine as a REMF...

Still it was a lonely feeling being up around Dong Ha - after the marines pulled out...
 
I didn’t see that any were used. Seems like it’s utility might have even been less than good charging yell.
I figured their largest utility would be as wire cutters these days.

I had the same feelings about the use of bayonets in today's battlefield. But it shows the effectiveness of the psychology of warfare. And why we're not calling the shots in training.
 
I am not sure if it was the most recent combat use of a bayonet, but I have Marine friends who did legit bayonet combat in Iraq in 04 and 06. Some units don't even issue bayonets for deployments such as when I went to Afghanistan in 2010, no bayonet on the packing list.
 
Some units don't even issue bayonets for deployments such as when I went to Afghanistan in 2010, no bayonet on the packing list.
The M9 is a poor excuse for a bayonet (too big and heavy to hang on the muzzle). It might be OK as a combination utility knife and wire cutter, but who has need for such a big, heavy utility knife?
 
The M9 is a poor excuse for a bayonet (too big and heavy to hang on the muzzle). It might be OK as a combination utility knife and wire cutter, but who has need for such a big, heavy utility knife?

As far as I know, I was among the last cycles of infantry school taught bayonet training and I have inventoried them so they are not a foreign weapon to me. They don't seem all that heavy by comparison to many of the other items we do carry. *Cough* PAS-anything. Sure would have been easier and cheaper to carry my bayonet instead of the full size Kabar I bought myself. But oh well, officers with supposedly more knowledge get paid for that.
 
Lots of heavy items to carry in basic training back in 1967. The bayonet was one them, others were the ridiculously heavy plastic covered poncho and equally ridiculous heavy canvas shelter half with wooden poles and steel stakes.

A pox upon whoever designed those, and whoever purchased them. Imagine a tent with no floor, took two people to each carry a half, and that would leak if touched on the inside while raining.
 
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